To Turn The Tides
by Distant Storm
Summary: NEW CH6, or ch7 if you count prologue. IT WAS NOT THERE BEFORE. A classic rivalry with a new twist, some KaiOC and TyHil, and more. After the world championships and the introduction to the Infinite Class, who's going to win it all? Kai or Tyson
1. Prologue

Notes: This is the only story that I've actually planned from start to finish before writing. Yay, go me!

Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade. All I do own is my plot line, OC's and any of their extensions.

Summary: The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Prologue

Distant Storm

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It had been about four months since the Justice Five tournament. All the beybladers had gone to their respective hometowns for a short break before school began at the beginning of September. Needless to say, many teams were already getting a head start on training for the next year. Others however, were more concerned with things like food and sleep, pretty much being a couch potato.

Boris Balkov and anyone else involved with BEGA had been arrested for their demonic behavior, banned from the beyblading world. It would seem that all was at peace, almost.

However, big cities began to become involved with an underground beyblading population that was beginning to take to the streets. This had started around the time Tyson had become involved with the Bladebreakers, some years before. Cities like New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami, Tokyo, Barcelona, Moscow, Rome, London and many others have been subject to beybattles by members of these underground bladers. Some organized themselves into gangs, to be with others of their "kind," so to speak. The battles between them were beyond the level of the World Championships. They were lethal.

The level of skill of these beybladers was not even considered within the range of World Class. Their level was off the charts, and was named accordingly, after the first blader demonstrated this power. They called it Infinite, after the gang Infinity, who were the trendsetters, followed by numerous others who organized themselves. They were revolutionary beybladers, with unique styles and strategies never seen before.

Certain gangs, however, began wars amongst the others with Infinite Class beybladers, leading to serious competitions that were ended typically with violence..

It was for this reason, Stanley A. Dickenson decided to make the circuit welcome to underground beybladers with these talents that were unknown to the world. Three years ago, he came across his first case. Her name was Riley Phillips, a Seattle native and a former member of Seattle's wildest gang, the one who started it all. Infinity. Dickenson's second reason was to get them into an organized system. If the infinites were with the B.B.A., or some organization like it, they weren't going to hurt people. It was like an afterschool program, designed to keep kids off the streets. But this was a way of life.

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Crimson eyes slid across the length of the room, her fingers drumming patterns on the wooden desk. The man behind it smiled at her warmly. "Jin should be here in a moment, don't worry."

"I wasn't," she responded. Gazing out the window, she thought of the dark blunette. It had been twelve years since she had first met him, when she was five years old. As compared to his brother... now that was someone she knew a little better.

When she was five, her father died, and she traveled with her mother, for her job, to Japan, where she had met Tyson and Hiro Granger, as well as their father and grandfather. They had become fast friends, bonded by the loss of his mother and her father.

A few years later, Hiro introduced Tyson to beyblading, a sport that she had been excelling in since before she came to Japan. Following that, his older brother seemed to disappear, and she had taken over his training. This only strengthened their bond, making them inseparable.

However, plans quickly changed. Her mother had been steadily increasing in rank at the company she worked in. Therefore, by the time her mother had become partial owner of the company, she was required to move back to headquarters in Seattle.

Since then, she'd lost touch with Tyson. She had been deemed the a member of Infinity from the day she had launched a beyblade in the city. A few years ago, she had been challenged by none other than Gin of the Gale, a nineteen year old boy she once knew who wished to see the power of an infinite. He had been sent by the B.B.A. to collect information about the Infinites, who were covering up their tracks. The girl, at the time, hadn't been aware of just how cruel people were being in the gang she practically considered a family.

"Man, I kicked his ass last time we fought," She commented aloud.

"Thank you for that lovely statement. It's nice to see you too."

Her eyes brightened. "Jin of the Gale... Hiro, it's so good to see you." She turned around and hugged the navy haired boy. "I've missed you a lot."

He looked down at her. "Still haven't grown any, Riley?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." Both sat down before the chairman, who was happy to see her friend as well.

"Now, as both of you know," He began, leaning back into his chair and pressing his fingertips together, "It has been three years since the G Revolutions won the World Championships as the Bladebreakers. This year, I am announcing beforehand that the level of skill is going to excede that of previous years."

"Are many of the gangs joining?" Hiro asked, removing his mask. "What about your old-"

Riley shook her head and her crimson eyes locked onto his. "I don't know, when you found me, I left, remember?" She smiled at Dickenson, then at Hiro. "I guess you two found me just in time. Even if I did kick your butt in that battle."

"You owe me a rematch."

Dickenson cleared his throat. "Anyway, with all the talk of underground beybladers joining, we need to strengthen the returning teams. I want the two of you to go push on the G Revolutions. They've been slacking off, and I think a fresh face would do them some good."

Riley nodded, running a hand through her multi-toned hair. She'd like to go see Tyson again, and training the world champs... The thought blew her away. "It would be an honor," Riley responded, sitting up a bit straighter. "And of course, I'd be able to see how I'd fare against them."

"Then it's settled. You will take the next plane out to Japan. Hiro, will you be joining them?"

He nodded as well. "I haven't seen my little bro in a long time," He said, his eyes sparking with remorse. "But I think bringing along one of his old friends will make him a little happier to see me."

Dickenson pressed a button on his phone. "Elena, please arrange two first class tickets to Bakuten, Japan." He released the button. "Riley, you're going into your senior year, correct?"

"Yes."

He pressed the same button a moment later. "Would you do me another favor, Elena? I need you to register Miss Phillips here to start at Bakuten Central High. She'll be finishing up her school career there."

Riley's heart fluttered in anticipation. She hadn't been to Japan in years, since she left with her mother. Come to think of her mother, she should call. However, after that whole disownment issue last night, she figured the bloody bitch wouldn't care if she died. Beyblading meant more to Riley than being her mother's corporate heir. If that meant that she would have to choose, she'd choose the one that could help her help others. Even if she did lose the last member of her family she had in the process.

Hiro reached over and placed a hand over hers. "Something up, squirt?"

"Nothing," she said, faking a smile. Her mother's words still stung, but it was nothing she wasn't used to. "I'll explain later."

"Okay..." Hiro didn't seem overly convinced, but she figured it would work for now. His cell phone rang and he excused himself, leaving her with the chairman. Concern accentuated his features.

"What's going on?" Mr. Dickenson asked, shooting a smile at her that told her it was alright to say something.

"My mom," she responded automatically. She owed the only one living her life, so she figured she could tell him. "She disowned me."

"When the hell did this happen?" He asked, now angry.

"Last night," she said, her eyes glazing over. "She told me that I was going to take over her position in her business, and that I would be going to finishing school next year to make sure I was ready for the corporate world. I told her that it wasn't what I wanted."

Dickenson reached an arm over the table and grabbed her hand, squeezing it lightly. "She disowned you because you wouldn't do as she asked you?"

"I won't let anyone determine how I live my life." She whispered determined. "I don't want that."

"It's understandable, Riley," he confirmed. "You know that you always have a home here with the B.B.A." She smiled appreciatively.

"Thank you," She said, smiling and laughing a little. "I can't tell you how much all you've done for me means."

"Are you staying at a hotel?"

"Actually, it's right by the airport." Both chuckled accordingly. "I got my crap and got out when she started with the names. She told me not to come back, and I was more than willing to oblige."

He nodded. "Are you okay though? I know these things hurt."

"I don't know yet about being okay, but I will be." She smiled at him sincerely. "It will do me some good to see my old friend."

Dickenson stood up and walked to her side of the desk, and she stood up as well, accepting and returning the man's embrace. "You've grown into quite the young woman, Riley. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Your character radiates through your actions. These speak louder than anything else. Your mother was a fool to not be able to see this." She squeezed him a bit tighter.

"Thanks Mr. D," she whispered, trying to keep a straight face. It was hard. "You've been working on your motivational speeches," she said, wiping a tear away from her eyes. "I'm actually tearing up."

"Well you better go find that friend of yours, I don't know when your plane leaves."

"Thanks again," she said winking at him. "I'll make sure those boys add another year under their belts."

"You already know how you're going to coach them, don't you?" He asked quizzically.

"I have an idea." He nodded.

"You'll make me proud, that I know."

She smiled. "I hope so."

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_**Seattle International Airport**_

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Hiro leaned over and picked up one of her three bags. "Haven't you heard of packing light? This is just about everything you own!"

She shrugged, a smile appearing. "It is everything I own," She confirmed. "I don't really plan on coming back here for a while, until I'm done with their training."

They continued on, getting to their gate without having to wait too long. The attendant took their tickets and escorted them onto the plane, which was pretty cold with the air conditioning. Riley pulled her red jacket tighter to her body. Hiro allowed her a choice of seats, and she took the window one, as he figured she would.

"How's beyblading been on your side of the world?" Hiro asked her seriously. "I've been over in New York City for a while, and spent a little time in the United Kingdom."

"Seattle beyblading is hardcore, I believe I taught you that..." He rolled his eyes, and she nudged him playfully. "You know I'm just messing with you. Anyway, since you led me to the B.B.A., things in the gangs has gotten crazy. They don't want to go 'mainstream,' for the sake of their image. Which really makes no sense. The gang I was in decided that they were going to go after the younger generation of beybladers, and with the skills they had, I thought it was horrible, so I went after them instead. Another gang appeared around this time to do the same thing, and since then, Dickenson and I have been working to keep the gangs in line. Not to mention to keep them from doing something stupid."

Hiro nodded. "So you don't think they'll enter the championships in June?"

"Yeah, I do think they will." His head spun around in confusion. "I know I just said that they didn't want to become mainstream, but there are other cities with gangs and the fact that some of these gang leaders have intense power and skill."

The plane began to take off, and she popped in a stick of bubble gum, offering some to the coach next to her. "Tyson will be surprised to see you," He said, in a softer tone. "So don't think this is all business. Though my brother has been slacking off a lot."

She laughed quietly, her eyes brightened by the thought of his little brother. "I thought we should challenge them. A little beybattle to affirm why we're needed before they know they've been assigned to us."

"You wouldn't om-"

"No." Her voice was firm. "That's the last thing they need to know about. I'm not even going to make them think I'm much better than they are."

"Then why challenge them?"

"I don't have to beat them by much," She responded, glancing over at him like he should've known. "Jin and a mysterious beyblader can appear, they can lose-"

"If you bring me into it, they'll think I'm going back to the dark side." He clenched his fists. "That would be a bad idea."

"Fine, I'll take them out myself. You can stand there and look pretty."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"It's not that hard." She leaned her seat back and watched the clouds out the window. They were now resting high above the pacific ocean. "All I need to do is get a bit of an edge and stop them from spinning, I mean seriously, Hiro, come on. I'm the heir of the Infinites, when you think about it."

"I know." He watched her gaze out the window. "I have a question."

"What?"

"You spend all this time training everyone else. Don't you want to compete?"

"Yeah, but Dickenson and I discussed this. There aren't enough beybladers at my level for me to compete."

Hiro's eyes widened. "He wants you to bump up the champs to your level. That's why he sent you!" He pointed an accusing finger at her. "You're meant to get them advancing so that the B.B.A. can advance too."

"Exactly. I'm glad you figured this out."

She pulled out her ipod and began looking through songs. After finding a suitable one, she turned it on low, leaving one ear bud hanging down by her side, while the other was in her ear. She pulled out her beyblade and let Hiro take a gander.

"That's one hell of an upgrade."

"I've upgraded five times since you've last seen me, so this had damn well better be an improvement." She clenched her hands around the beyblade, one built for agile movement and endurance. It red with a cyclone attack ring and a diamond chip titanium defence ring. "The beyblade is the Diamondback V3.0 Cyanide."

"Interesting. And the bit beast?"

"Taidra." She paused. "Remember? The big black and red thing that sent you packing?"

"Ha. Very funny." He ran a hand through his hair. "You want to come back here?"

"There's not much left for me in Seattle," Hiro's face changed to one of bewilderment, "So we'll see what Bakuten has to offer."

"What happened with your mom?"

Riley froze. "She disowned me, you know, standard procedure when your daughter rebels from the life of a refined corporate bitch. I can be a bitch without the suit, thanks, I think I'll beyblade."

He slung an arm around her. "I'm glad you're coming back with me," he said gratefully. "I do miss you too."

"I barely knew you when we were kids," she said, rolling her eyes. "You left remember?"

"And for the few years that I did get to know you, you were my little sister."

"Nothing changes, heh?"

"I guess not. Let's just hope Tyson feels the same way."

"Hell, I took over training him from you, I think I can do it again."

"One would hope he'd listen to the one who taught him how to blade. All I did was give him the tools. You did the coaching."

"You shouldn't sell yourself short. You work those boys good and hard, and that's what they need."

"Yeah, yeah." He leaned back in his seat. "Get some rest, I'm sure that tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day."

"Agreed. Bakuten, here I come."

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_Alright, alright, I know, it's short, but it's just an introduction. Besides, Hiro doesn't get much of a part in my stories, especially ones where he's the good guy. I thought I'd include him for once._

_Please Review!_

_x3 Distant Storm_


	2. A Familiar Face

Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade. All I do own is my plot line, OC's and any of their extensions.

Summary: The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter One: A Familiar Face

Distant Storm

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"That's only my fifth helping! You know I usually eat seven!"

The brunette girl to his left smirked and rolled her eyes. "The hell you will. You'll get sick and we have a meeting with Mr. Dickenson at five. Besides, you should be training, not eating!"

"We've only been telling him that for years," Max said, a smile on his face. He stole the soup bowl from under Tyson's nose and dumped it in the sink. "There. That's the last of it."

"Thanks, Maxy," The brunette said, sticking her tongue out at the blunette, her best friend, Tyson.

He flashed a smile and a thumbs up, before returning to his first helping of the soup that the brunette, Hilary had made for lunch.

In the corner, Kai Hiwatari, the captain of the team sat, his bowl already empty, and his head resting in his hands, tilted toward the open window. Next to him was Ray Kon, a beyblader from the rural hills of China. He had just come in the night before. Between Ray and Tyson was Daichi, the crazy kid who had taken over for Max as the hyperactive child. He was thirteen, while everyone else was sixteen, except Kai, who was seventeen.

They had beaten out BEGA four months ago at a tournament to save the B.B.A., which rose again like a phoenix from its ashes. Since then, all of them had gone their separate ways, agreeing to meet up again and go to Bakunen high for their junior year. All except Kai, who continued in his prep school education, which confused everyone to no end. He was the outsider, the loner, and he was going to a formal school? As Tyson stated, Kai would be more accepted in public school. However, Ray and Hilary made the point that he was probably going to that school for some sanity. After all, he was living with them.

"Kai, what're you thinking about?"

Kai made no response, and Tyson rolled his eyes.

"Probably how to beat you," Max said. "You've been slacking, I bet he probably could beat you."

"Hey! That's not nice!"

"It's true," Kenny said, walking into the room, holding his computer in his arms. "You've done nothing to train other than a few practice battles, and I bet you're rusty."

"I just battled Daichi the other day."

"Humph."

"You still haven't beaten me," Tyson said in responce to Kai's grunt. He growled and Tyson laughed. "What? It's only the truth," He mocked.

"Tyson..." Kai got up and loomed in front of the blunette.

Hilary shoved her way between the two, her back to Kai. She knew he wasn't going to back down unless she got a good rise out of Tyson. "Enough, both of you. Tyson, quit being an idiot, because Kai probably would beat you, in more ways than one." She heard him hum in amusement behind him, and her mind cooked up an image of his smirk. "And we'd let you go at it, but you'd probably destroy everything within a four mile radius."

"Good point," Ray said, watching with amusement. Daichi jumped up, and surprisingly came to Hilary's aid.

"Come on Tyson! I wanna battle!"

Kai took a step back, noting that his short attention span had been diverted to Daichi and Hilary, rather than him. Which was good. Personally, after four years of dealing with these people, he could deal with them. They didn't need to know that he found their antics amusing, or that he did consider them friends. And when Tyson's ego wasn't inflated to the size of a small country, he was alright, in the Russian's eyes.

"You're on," Tyson said. The two went bounding out into the backyard, causing a sigh, in unison, from the occupants of the kitchen.

"That's one way of dealing with him," Max said. He turned toward the Russian. "Sorry he's an asshole."

"By now you should know it isn't your fault," Kai stated in a monotone. Hilary opened the refridgerator and grabbed a bottle of pop, unscrewing the cap and taking a swig.

"Pass it over," Ray mentioned, when she had set the bottle down on the table. She slid it down to him and he caught it, taking a sip without touching his lips to the bottle.

"If you backwash, you die. That's the last bottle."

"Tyson's going to kill you, he wanted that."

"Then he can deal with it." Hilary reclaimed the soda and chugged a quarter of what was left in it. Kai turned his head back to the window, watching the wind along the grass moving in crazy patterns summer was almost over for all of them, and when school started up, it was going to be more work than play.

Max's eyes narrowed on the battle going on outside. "Hey, once one of them wins, why don't we go to the park and train? It'll be a lot of fun!"

Hilary nodded, as well as Ray. Kai grunted, and they took it as a sign of his approval. Kenny flipped open his laptop. "I'd like to get some stats for when we start training officially. I'm sure Mr. Dickenson will like to have them."

"I wonder if Hiro's going to come back," Ray mentioned, his voice barely above a whisper. Kai's expression flickered along the lines of annoyance before indifference came across his features.

"Don't worry," Hilary said, nudging Kai. "I haven't heard anything about it, and if he does come back, it won't be a huge deal. You'll just ignore him as usual."

The rest of the group laughed, it was true. "Whatever."

"Back to one word answers because I'm around, eh Kai?" The captain grunted and Tyson continued, a sweat barely visible on his face. "I beat the tyke, what's going on?"

"We're going to the park. Kenny wants some stats, and I think we could all use some training."

Kai nodded, and Tyson groaned. "Greaaat. Now we get to run."

"See, and I didn't even think about that, but sure Tyson, I'd be more than happy to run a few laps around the park." Kai looked up at him, his amethyst grey eyes reflecting in the pale light of the room. Tyson's eyes burned in anger, and he stomped out of the room, going to grab something before they left.

"You weren't serious, were you?"

Kai looked over at the rest of his team mates. "No. Not at all. He'll still run, and I won't say anything, and we'll have a good laugh." The rest of the group nodded, smiles apparent on their faces.

"I can hear you, you know," Tyson said, temper flaring.

Kai shrugged. "I figured. And I don't care." The captain stood up, and walked out the door, his scarf billowing behind him.

"Hey, at least he's using more than one word answers," Daichi said, nudging Tyson. "Give him that."

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She could've smacked herself in the face for it, but she had to admit, it did give her the 'warm fuzzies' to be back in Japan. Now she remembered why she missed it so much. Seattle was great, she had to admit, but this place seemed much more peaceful, and there were more places than alleyways for beybattles. That was definitely a plus.

"Hey, Riley, your ass is vibrating," Hiro said, holding back laughter. "Is that one of your new attacks?"

"It's called a cell phone, asshole." She swung an arm backwards, cutting him square in the shoulder. "And if you want to see one of my attacks, give me two seconds, and I'll be more than happy to assist you." She flipped open the sleek black contraption. "Hey Mr. D, your flight come in okay?"

_"Everything is good here. Did you drop off your things at the Granger's Dojo?"_

"Yep, everything is taken care of. Grandpa was thrilled to see me. I never knew anyone could use that much slang and hug someone so tight at the same time," she said, and Hiro laughed. "Though I might have to kill my partner in crime."

Dickenson laughed from his end of the phone. _"The boys weren't there when you dropped everything off, right?"_

She shook her head, though he couldn't see it. "No, they went out to the park, which is where we're headed now. I want to see how they take surprises."

_"Their guards are probably down. Take it easy on them, I know how you are sometimes."_

"I won't be too hard on them... yet. Tomorrow, now that's a different story." Hiro laughed at her comment. Those boys were in for a rude awakening.

_"Alright, you have fun, and I'll see you at four thirty. The boys will be arriving at five."_

"Okay, we'll see you then." She shut the phone and looked at the elder of the Granger brothers. "I could kick your ass," She said with a smile. "But I won't. I'll be rooming with someone other than Tyson, so I'll be fine."

He froze. "Shit!" Tyson snored horribly. You had to have a stereo on to drown that out.

"You should sleep on the roof."

"I might not have a choice." She laughed. "You suck."

"Yeah, yeah, let's go find us a group of championship beybladers to take out. Maybe one of them will surprise us and give us a battle."

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At the park, the five team mates were having a sudden death match. Last one spinning won and wouldn't have to run laps at the next practice. Max took the defensive route, teaming up with Ray to try and take out Tyson. Daichi went after Max, and Kai watched the rest of them try to beat each other up, while Tyson tried to get a shot at him.

Tyson swung wide to evade Max and Ray. "I thought we were all against each other. You two are cheating," he exclaimed, pointing at the Chinese and American members of the group.

Ray took a slam from Max, and was surprised. "Hey! What was that for?" He slammed the blonde back, while Daichi and Tyson exchanged (what they thought was) witty banter.

From the sidelines, Kenny and Hilary sat on top of a picnic table, recording the battle to show Mr. Dickenson later. "Never a dull moment with these guys, heh?" Kenny asked, a lopsided smile on his face.

"Nope," Hilary said, tucking a strand of chocolate hair behind her ear. "I wonder when Kai's going to go in and take out all of them. No one's even called out a bit beast yet."

Kenny shrugged and the battle continued.

A short distance away, two figures stood watching from a high branch of a maple tree. "So, Jin, would you like me to do it, or will you?"

"They'll recognize me too easily if I use my beyblade. Besides, ladies first." He motioned for her to make a move, and she was more than happy to oblige.

She pulled out her launcher and locked her cherry red beyblade into position. Sliding the extra long rip cord into position, she heard it click and grabbed onto the blade as per usual. However, she then flipped the launcher over so the tip of her beyblade was up and her arms were crossed over. She drew it skyward, moving her arms in a fluid crescent moon shape, and launched her beyblade with precision and speed.

Meanwhile, Tyson had just slammed into Ray and Max sending them backwards. Kai had just slammed into Daichi, who growled in frustration and attacked back.

"This is exciting," Hilary said sarcastically, growing impatient.

Out of nowhere, a red blur knocked Ray, Max, and Daichi's beyblades sky high. They landed next to their respective owners completely immobile, but intact. Dragoon was knocked into the air, but he recovered quickly. Kai and Dranzer however, were ready for the attack, and surged out of the way.

The red beyblade left Tyson and Dragoon alone for the next length of time, instead heading on, full force into Dranzer. Kai was disturbed by the nature of this attack. Even he had been caught off guard. Tyson rushed to help his friend, sandwiching the red beyblade between his and Kai's. A great wave of energy was emitted from the beyblade in the middle, sending Dranzer and Dragoon flying into the dirt, leaving the red beyblade spinning as though it had never attacked anyone and was spinning off a clean launch.

"What the fuck?" Kai asked, looking around. "Tyson-"

"I see them," The blunette said, through clenched teeth. His head was tilted upward toward the trees, in particular, the one with the two figures upon its branches.

"That was... pathetic," The one figure said, clouded by shadow. They could tell it was a girl by the voice, and cringed at the way she said the last word. "And they're the World Champs."

The second figure stepped closer to the base of the tree, from their previous positions of being back to back. "I thought they were better than this." He became illuminated by the afternoon sunlight.

Mouths dropped. Tyson took a step forward, his fists clenched tightly. "Y- you did this?"

From the tree, the ninja smiled. "No. I didn't."

The second figure held up her hand, and the beyblade immediately retreated to it. She closed her hand around it and turned, jumping to the next lowest branch on a nearby tree. "Come on Jin, I believe we have places to be."

The second figure followed, disappearing among the green. Tyson growled, and Hilary flashed him a sincere smile. "Damn it!" Tyson kicked some invisible force in front of him, while Hilary and Max grabbed his shoulders.

"Calm down. If Hiro is back, we'll ask Dickenson about it. He should know something." Hilary rubbed his shoulder gently, and he calmed down a little.

"But he wasn't dressed like he usually is. He was dressed like-"

"Jin of the Gale." An angry spark was visible in Kai's eyes. He did not like the way that had turned out. They'd basically crumbled before some... some girl with Tyson's older brother. Not that he was sexist, but most of the girls he'd ever come across in beyblading weren't the toughest opponents. This girl had tossed them around like a bunch of rag dolls.

"Hey, anyone got a messed up blade?"

"No, mine's fine."

"Same here."

The rest nodded in agreement. "That's strange," Kenny said. "They just knocked you out and nothing else. Not like other evil beybladers."

"No one said they were evil," Hilary said darkly. The last thing she needed was an angsty Tyson on her hands. Not that she wouldn't mind comforting him... she blushed a little at the thought and stuffed it back into the part of her mind that she kept the fantasies that she constantly denied having to Max and Ray. Hell, even Kai had gotten to her once.

Turning back to the circomstances at hand, the group shuffled toward the entrance to the park. Their faces reflected the wide array of emotions that were running through their minds. Something was up, and it all started with a random challenge. They just hoped things wouldn't be too bad.

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Jin entered the B.B.A. headquarters with Riley on his heels. "I have to get changed," he said, impatiently. "Dickenson will probably wish me to look like a normal person when he reintroduces us to the boys."

"Okay," she said. "I'm sorry Tyson didn't look too thrilled to see you."

"He'll be better when he realizes we're on his side." The blue haired boy sighed. "Though I have to admit that you took them out faster than I'd anticipated. They won't be happy with you."

"Tyson will soften them up. And besides, I'm their trainer. I'm supposed to be better than them. They need to learn."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Just be careful, one of them could surprise you." Riley nodded in understanding and separated from the warrior.

She took the elevator in stride, riding up to the seventh floor. She would arrive early, as per usual. Riley was known to be anything but late. A quick knock to the chairman's door resulted in a click of the lock being released.

"Riley, I figured that would be you." Flashing a smile, she shut the door behind her and sat down before the chairman. "Did your plans work out alright?"

"I beat them in less than two minutes."

"Which ones?"

"All of them." At his reaction, she leaned back into the black leather chair. "Tyson was not too thrilled to see his brother. Probably thinks we're on the dark side."

"It's understandable." The chairman pondered over this for a moment. "Where's Jin anyway?"

"Changing into normal clothing. Apparently Jin doesn't coach them, Hiro does." She shrugged, mumbling something about referring to yourself in the third person and stood up, approaching the window. She saw the team she had just totaled walking solemnly down the street from her location on the tenth floor. It was quite an odd combination, blondes, bluenettes, brunettes, black hair, red hair, and grey and blue hair. Well, at least they had the bases covered.

"Well, while we have a moment to ourselves, there's something I tell you."

"What's up?"

"This morning, I received a phone call from a social worker in Seattle. Your mother called them and told them about your situation."

Riley's eyes flickered in rage. "What do I do then?"

"Technically, you need a guardian, and unless you get one in two weeks, they can send you to an orphanage." Riley lowered her head into her hands, and closed her eyes, trying to remain calm.

After a moment, she lifted her head, and to his surprise, she had nothing but determination shimmering through her crimson orbs. "What should I do?"

"I have an alternative-" A quick knock was laid upon the door, and a slightly more professional looking Hiro Granger stepped in the room. Clad in his khakis, white t-shirt, and B.B.A. jacket, he looked a bit more friendly and a little more coachish. "-we'll continue this later."

"Ready to scare the crap out of them?" Riley asked. "My bet is that Tyson is going to probably wave a launcher in your face before you can explain that it was me testing them."

Hiro sighed and massaged his temples. "You have no idea how correct you probably are."

Dickenson laughed. "That's our Tyson, never a rational moment."

The group chuckled, and others nervously, while awaiting for his secretary to announce the arrival of the championship team.

"Alright sir," A voice chimed over his desk intercom, "The G Revolutions are on their way up."

"Thank you Jeana." The chairman turned toward the two of them. "Why don't you two go wait in one of the board rooms? I'll call for you when we're ready."

"Alright." The two got up, smoothing out their clothes. "We'll see you in a few." Hiro held open the door for her before turning around and flashing a smile at the chairman, who sunk back nervously in his chair. He hoped everything would turn out alright.

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_There's the first chapter. Tell me what you think, and please review!_

_x3 Distant Storm_


	3. She's WHAT with WHO?

Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade. All I do own is my plot line, OC's and any of their extensions.

Summary: The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Two: She's WHAT With WHO?

Distant Storm

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"Everyone calm down. Everyone can explain. Ray, you start." The chairman rubbed his throbbing forehead. These boys got louder every time he saw them.

"Alright, we were training in the park, and from out of nowhere, this red beyblade came charging at us, and knocked everyone except Kai and Tyson out in the first swipe." Dickenson's eyes widened. That was quite a feat. "Kai and Tyson were knocked out pretty quick afterwards."

"Any bit beasts involved?"

Tyson shook his head. "Nope. Hiro was there."

A spark appeared in Dickenson's eye. "Really?" This was kind of fun, he realized, to play along like he knew nothing.

"Yeah," The blunette said, still in shock from the attack. "But it wasn't him who attacked. It was some girl."

"Did you see her face?"

"No. She called us pathetic and left." The group hung their heads, while Kai looked the man in the eye.

"She caught us all off guard."

"She threw us around like newbies!" Tyson shot back. Hilary agreed, to everyone's surprise, and fighting broke out between the members of the B.B.A.'s star team.

"Quiet down!" Dickenson said, his voice booming for a moment. "I think I can explain this."

Everyone stared at him, their eyes brimming with questions. "Did you send them?" Kenny asked. Max nodded to agree with the question.

"Why would you do that?" The American asked, confusion and hurt appearing in his eyes.

Mr. Dickenson felt guilty, so he figured he'd get down to business. "I did not send them. They went to test you of their own accord."

"But you knew?" Kai's amethyst eyes flashed dangerously.

He nodded. "Yes. The level of ability of this year's beybladers is rising beyond any other level known before. We've been having trouble with the underground beybladers who have been showing up at tournaments. This level of ability isn't world class, like you are. There's a gang, Infinity. The other beybladers with this skill level had gangs of their own. The inter-gang violence has been on the rise, and things have been declining fairly since then. The gangs have a lot of power."

"Infinity?" Kenny asked, confused. "I've never heard of it."

"It comes from the root of one group of beybladers that had its starting chapter in Seattle, Washington. They called themselves Infinite. Their beybladers are known for power beyond any other in the beyblading world. The first Infinite appearance in a battle, nearly set off the entire blading complex. Of course, Hiro has experienced battle against an Infinite, an experienced one at that. They don't all have good reputations, but I'm reinstating Hiro as an assistant coach to help you prepare for the championships." Tyson nodded his head in approval, while Kai on the other hand seemed a little disturbed by this fact. Things didn't really sit well between him and the elder Granger.

"When are they?"

"June. I wanted to give you a chance to get prepared." He cleared his throat and pressed a button on the intercom. "You can come in now."

"Is he here?"

"Of course." Dickenson waited for a rap on the door. Tyson opened it, to find himself face to face with his older brother. An array of emotions passed his face, but he suddenly realized that it wasn't Jin, it was indeed his brother.

"Hiro!"

"Hey little bro," The elder Granger said, hugging his younger sibling. "Miss me?"

"Yeah! I'm glad you're on my side!"

The B.B.A. founder smiled. "Of course, there is one final thing."

"Yeah," Hilary said, looking to Hiro. "Who was that girl with you today?"

"You mean me?" Riley leaned against the doorway cooly, a tranquil look on her features.

Tyson let go of Hiro and looked over at the girl in the doorway. She had mid-length brown hair with reddish orange and blonde highlights streaked throughout it. Her eyes were a bright crimson, with light cherry eye shadow intensifying it. Something tugged at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. She seemed familiar... and he didn't mean from that afternoon.

"Riley? Riley Phillips?" The rest of the group watched curiously. Who the hell was this girl? They'd never met her before. Yet apparently... Tyson had.

"The one and only!" Tyson moved from his brother to the girl, hugging her tightly, trying hard not to squeeze her guts right out of her.

"Ehh... Is anyone else confused?" Daichi asked, annoyed that things were going on, and he didn't know exactly what they were.

Tyson turned around toward his group of friends, a wide smile on his face. "This is Riley Phillips. She used to live here in Japan when we were younger. She took over teaching me how to blade when Hiro left."

"What?" Everyone looked surprised, except for Mr. Dickenson and Hiro.

"I figured you'd be excited to see your old friend... and your teacher." Dickenson smiled at her, and Kai leaned back in his chair, no longer interested.

"Yeah, she was one of the only teachers I could tolerate!"

Everyone laughed, and Kai made a sarcastic comment in Russian.

Riley looked entirely defensive. "_I'm sorry you don't think I'm worth very much, but you suck at beyblading, so I must be worth more than you. And by the way, I can understand every word you said. You can't pull anything over on me._"

Max and Ray looked at each other, Kai, who looked entirely pissed off and perhaps a bit... embarrassed, and then Tyson, who was excited, and laughed at their captain's expense. "Yeah, Maxy, looks like we're all set."

"How do _you_ know Russian?" Kai asked, caught off guard.

"My father was Russian." She said darkly. Tyson smiled sympathetically at her and she shrugged.

"I'm glad someone finally told off Mr. Insensitive," Daichi said, smiling up at her. "I'm Daichi."

She shook his hand and introduced herself, before walking over to Mr. Dickenson. Hiro joined her.

"I have asked these two to help coach you for the world championships. Kapeesh?"

"She's WHAT?" Kai asked, incredulously. The group stared at him and his random display of usually hidden emotion.

"Sorry Hiwatari," She said deviously, "But it looks like I'm in charge here."

"Waaaaaaiiiit a minute," Hilary stated. "Were you the girl from before?"

"Uh huh." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the all too familiar beyblade, causing all boys between the ages of thirteen and eighteen to stare at her like she was an alien, Tyson included.

"I can't believe you!"

"First of all, we've been over this, and second of all, I can't believe you couldn't beat me." Hiro shot her a look that had some general reasons and she glared at him. "I can't believe you all together couldn't beat me." She looked at Kai and smiled sadistically. The Russian growled. What the hell was her issue? Couldn't she just drop it? "Yeah, sorry guys, but you weren't that good," she said, looking at them. Tyson seemed a little miffed, and she smiled gently. "But that's why I'm here. To improve on your skills."

xxxxxxxxxx

One week later, school was in full swing, and Hiro had been running training sessions. Everyone had gotten used to the second girl's presence in the Granger dojo, and things were running smoothly.

Hilary slid open one of the doors in the home, leading to the back yard, and typical training area.

"Metal Drigger!" The sound of colliding beyblades filled the air, followed by a thud.

Riley laughed, recalling her beyblade. "Try again?"

"I think you have school?" He asked, looking at her with an evil smile. "I'm older than you, I get to stay here."

"Then you worry about how you're going to beat me." He glared at her and she laughed again. "I'm just messing with you. I'm not asking you to be an Infinite or anything."

Hilary dangled her legs over the edge of the house, and watched the two of them argue for a moment before Riley caught sight of her. "Morning, you two," Hilary called, in a pretty good mood. Riley smiled and came over to her, taking a seat.

"What's up Hil?"

"Nothing much, I'm surprised that you actually get up early. Being a friend of Tyson's..."

"I haven't hung around Tyson in years. Actually, I think I'm taking over their training today, so I'm going to need some help from you and Kenny. Those boys are going to fear me by the time I'm done with them."

Hilary nodded, and Hiro nodded her way before disappearing into the house. "You two would make a cute couple," she whispered to the crimson eyed coach, who did a double take.

"Are you flipping kidding me?" Hilary looked surprised, as did Riley. "Hiro is a great person, and so is his brother, but neither of them are anything more than friends to me. Any man who wants to be with me needs more skills than I've seen on either of them."

"That's entirely harsh," A voice echoed from inside.

"Honesty, Kon, honesty." He grumbled and came to the window.

"I just think that you're underestimating us. You caught us off guard last time, and trust me, all of us know that when you start training us, we're going to work extra hard so we can beat you." Here was a shout of agreement in the room, which she assumed belonged to Daichi.

"Hey, Max, you around?" Hilary called.

"In the shower," Hiro said, coming up behind them.

"Figures," Hilary said, grumbling. "I wanted to ask him about his beyblade, we haven't been able to get a good look at it in a while. It might need an upgrade."

Riley nodded and stood up. "I'm going to get some coffee. You coming?" Hilary stood up and followed her into the dojo, sitting with the rest of the group at an extended dining table. Riley settled for the four person island in the kitchen, leaning against it while facing the dining room and her trainees.

"What are you going to do to us?" Tyson asked. "Hiro said you're taking over training today."

"I'm going to work your asses into the ground, Ty, that a problem?" She raised an eyebrow and he gulped.

"I didn't like that when I was younger. Now I know for sure that I don't like that look, or that tone. Hiro! Can't you train us?"

"No, I have a meeting with Mr. Dickenson. She'll help you a lot. The practice team she was given to coach improved a lot after just three training sessions." Their usual coach leaned back on his chair, proping it up on two legs. Riley took a swig of coffee. "She's lived in Seattle, she'll know what the toughest competition is like."

"Is that why you're so good?"

"Seattle is a city overcome by harsh bladers. You have to beyblade to live."

"But you don't even have a bit beast, do you?" Tyson looked at her confused.

"That's nothing you need to worry about. My skills aren't in question." She padded over to the dining room area. "_Yours_, however, are." Looking over to the clock on the wall, she did a double take and then looked back at the group. "We need to get going."

"Yeah, yeah, Maxy's not done getting ready."

"Then one of you go yell at him." She pointed a finger in the direction of the hallway. "Now."

"Okay, okay," Tyson said, getting up and going down the hall, stomping with each step.

Kai stood against the wall, clad in clothing that supported the fact that he went to a prep school. "Way to be bossed around by an albino chick, Tyson."

Hiro paused, and looked over toward the girl who had set her cup of coffee on the table. She was now making her way over to Kai, and she was not thrilled. "Do you feel the need to make stupid comments when you do talk?"

"I try to make a habit of it."

She nodded her head in understanding. "Well, if you enjoy sounding stupid, keep going, but just so you know, I'm not albino. And the last person who said that to me didn't like the end result."

"I'm not afraid of you," he said, smirking at her.

"You will be." With this, she picked up her backpack and walked outside. Kai, being an idiot, decided to follow her. "Why the hell are you following me?"

"I have a car, retard. I have school too, and I think I need to get the hell away from all of you."

"Okay," she said shrugging. "But you aren't getting away from me if you're following me."

"Hn."

"If that's your answer to the things that you can't explain, Hiwatari..." she trailed off, and Hiro came outside, holding the telephone.

"Dickenson wants to talk to you. Something about your mom."

"Okay."

Kai rolled his eyes, starting up the car. The school was on the opposite side of the city, and he knew that living with the team he led, he wouldn't get to school on time if he walked. Therefore, the blue Cobalt SS was used on a daily basis for school, and also when he wanted to get as far away from his team mates as possible.

That girl was annoying. Almost as annoying as Tyson. No wonder how she taught him to beyblade. They were a lot alike. Oh well, not like he cared. He put the car into drive, and sped off, pretty much as loud as humanly possible.

"Hello? Sorry, Kai has to be a moron at all hours of the day, you know?"

_"Heh, I get what you mean. Can you stop by my office today after you're done training the boys?"_

"Any time in particular?"

_"Five, five-thirty, at the latest."_

"I'll be there at quarter after. What's up, anyway?"

_"We need to discuss how we're going to handle your parental situation. If my mind serves me correctly, we don't have too much time left to determine who your guardian is."_

"We can't go through that entire process in a week!" She cried hopelessly.

_"You just have to have a start, and they'll let you stay with Tyson until we get you a guardian. I'll explain everything later, alright?"_

"Okay, thanks, Mr. D, I owe you my life."

_"Don't mention it, and I won't tell the boys. Just don't kill them off, I don't think they know you're an Infinite Class beyblader."_

"That's our secret." The chairman said something accordingly and she hung up the phone. "Guys! Come on! Now I know we're going to be late!"

xxxxxxxxxx

"Again."

"Dude, I miss Hiro- OUCH!"

"Again."

Ray rubbed the back of his head, which Riley had hit with a water bottle, and slid the rip cord back into place on his launcher. Just how many times was he going to have to do this today? Had it really only been a few hours? It seemed more like days. Looking around, he'd noticed that all of the guys had had quite a hard time, battling against each other. This girl's training methods were pretty out there, and now he knew why the Abbey was such a hell hole. And he wasn't even in it.

"I'm serious, how about you?"

"Is it your job to put us down?"

"No, that's a pastime Hiwatari. You think you're good?"

"Hn."

"Fine." She launched her beyblade. "Show me."

"Go Dranzer!" The captain launched his beyblade cooly, slamming into the red one that Riley had just launched. It bounced back pathetically, like it had collided with a concrete wall.

"You were saying?" She lowered her hands to her hips, and Ray couldn't help but notice that Kai was having the worst experience of all of them.

"Dude, Ray, focus, or she'll come back here!" Max said, through gritted teeth. "She's like the flipping devil!"

"Drigger!"

"Draciel!" Blurs of green and grey-white collided in a flurry of sparks and sound.

"Come on!"

Tyson turned to watch his friends. His match with Daichi was tough, he had to admit that the little guy had been training. Still, he was the champ, and this wasn't really what he thought of as the best competition.

"Alright," Riley said, withdrawing her beyblade. "Daichi, Ray, Max, I want you three to go against Tyson. And I don't want you to take it easy on him." Kai looked confused. "I have some other business to attend to." She looked directly at Kai. "Again."

"Excuse me?"

"This isn't some friendly battle, here Kai. I said again."

"I swear, that must be her favorite word..." Tyson grumbled.

"Go run some laps, Granger."

"What?"

"Now." Her voice seemed darkly distorted, and the champion jumped a bit, recalling his beyblade and taking off in a sprint. Kai launched Dranzer again only to find him blade ricocheted off of hers and sent flying. This time, it landed in a decreasing spin, but spinning none the less.

His thoughts were messed up. Why the hell was she targeting him? Everyone else just dealt with the comments. That was who he was. Really, she was lucky that he spoke to her at all. His goal was to beat anyone in his way, but this girl was something else. She didn't react to his moves, she just sat there with the same taunting smirk, prodding him to attack again. Personally he doubted that she even had a bit beast. He'd never seen it, and she didn't act like she had one.

"Blazing Gigs Tempest!" All eyes focused on the dual haired captain, whose beyblade spun with a revived fury, as flames began shooting skyward. "Go Dranzer!" The phoenix appeared with a fiery vengance. "Now you'll see just how powerful I am!"

Flames surrounded both Riley and her beyblade, concealing her from the view of everyone else. "What the hell is going on?"

"Hiro?" Everyone, except Kai, turned to stare at the elder bluenette. He didn't seem to have time for a greeting, as a vortex of flames was surrounding his opponent.

"Who the hell is he battling?"

"Riley."

"Tell him to call off his attack! It's only practice!"

With the swing of his hand, the flames ceased, and Riley was revealed, her beyblade laying on the ground next to her. A smirk was cast on her face, and she picked up her beyblade, flipped open her cell phone, shut it, and shoved the two contraptions in her pocket. Kai showed no remorse for what he had just done, and Riley seemed to not even be miffed by it.

"Perhaps there's some potential in you yet, Hiwatari." She began to walk away, but Hiro grabbed her and whispered something into her ear, an incredulous look on his face. She shook her head, and he seemed a little more relieved. Once she was out of earshot and her back was to the group, she laughed viciously. "Of course I didn't lose to him. I just let him think I did."

xxxxxxxxxx

She shut the door to Dickenson's office behind her. "Hey," she said, her face more serious than before.

"Have a seat."

She did as told, and waited for him to speak again. "I wanted to ask you about a guardian."

"Sure," she said, a bit confused. "You found one so quickly?"

"Well..." The chairman sighed, and pulled out some paperwork. "The process should take no more than a month tops, and you'll still be staying with Tyson and his family."

"Alright. Who is it?"

"Me."

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**_Author's note:_** Woot, cliffy-ish-thingy! I know, I know, it seems like Riley is officially a huge Mary Sue, but trust me, she has a really big part in the story, and I need her to be better than them, or else things won't work out. And trust me, Kai lovers will love the ending of the story. Absolutely lurving it!

So yeah, there's chapter two, so please review and I'll see you next time!

x3 Distant Storm


	4. The Results Are Infinite

Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade. All I do own is my plot line, OC's and any of their extensions.

Summary: The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Three: The Results Are Infinite

Distant Storm

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September had quickly become October, and the seasons had pulled a massive change, with the bitterness of winter creeping up on them at night. Training had become slightly less intense for the group, who had learned to deal with Riley's intense style. Kai's training however, had yet to become normal. For some reason unknown to the rest of the team, Riley still ran him into the ground. They didn't think it was because of Kai's remarks anymore, because outside of training, she was completely normal. One might think they actually got along, if the snowy haired captain would say something in response that was gauged at more than two syllables.

"Where are you going?" Tyson asked, to the retreating back of the captain. In his hand was his launcher, and in the other was his beyblade.

"To train."

The blunette scratched the back of his head. Didn't he do enough of that with Riley and the rest of the team? Or did he have something to prove. Maybe she had something she wasn't telling them... Tyson's head spun with thoughts that he couldn't quite make sense of. He figured he'd leave Kai alone, since he was probably out of earshot anyway. Riley might be able to answer some questions.

With this information, the champion went into his home and began yelling her name at the top of his lungs.

"For Pete's sake, Tyson, she's not here!" Hilary huffed in frustration. Sometimes that boy gave her quite a headache.

"Where is she then?"

"Hiro and Riley had to go meet with Mr. Dickenson."

"They're always meeting with him!"

"They're the coaches," Ray explained. "Kind of their job."

Max agreed, and took a swig of soda. "Yes, pepsi!"

"Only one a day, for all our sakes," Kenny pleaded. Max rolled his eyes. So what if he got hyper after a few caffinated beverages?

"Back to what I was talking about," Tyson stated, growing annoyed. "Did anyone notice-"

"It's not all about you!" Hilary said, leaning back in her chair. "Some of us have lives too, you know."

"I was just wondering why Riley makes Kai work so hard at practice, jeez!"

"Speaking of Mr. Insensitive, where is he?" Hilary looked around. There was no human ice block lingering in any dark corners of the dojo.

"Training."

"Again?"

"God! Don't use that word!" Daichi covered his ears. "I don't like that word."

"Who does?" Max asked. "That word is the devil."

"Agreed."

xxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, in the office of Mr. Stanley A. Dickenson...

"How's the training coming along?" The chairman's hands were folded together across the desk, and he rippled them every now and then.

"Good." Hiro stated. "They're responding positively to the programs Riley's been using."

"What program would that be?"

"To work 'em into the ground. I don't think anyone's done that in a while."

Hiro shrugged, and Dickenson shook his head. "Kai's been known for a vigorous training session, but he's too passive and 'whatever', so they don't like to listen to him."

"He is a chunk of ice, isn't he?"

"Very much so." The trio chuckled. "Riley here has been quite the motivation for him though. He's been training like crazy."

"Not that he wouldn't already, but he's got another opponent to beat other than Tyson. It would be great if he could figure out my edge, but I don't think he's going to anytime soon," she said with confidence.

"You never know. They just think you're strong for now, which is a good thing." The chairman nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, they probably wouldn't took at me the same if they knew I was an Infinite," she said, quieter than before. "With all the talk that's been on the news lately, and especially since Infinity has been gaining quite the bad reputation."

"Yes, I heard about that," Dickenson chimed in. "I can't believe they'd destroy bit beasts. It's practically murder."

"It _is_ murder. Sometimes I wish I could go and take them all out..." She trailed off and shrugged. "But I guess this is the next best thing, you know?"

"There's nothing we can do about it now, but I have another question for you two."

"Go ahead," Hiro said, pressing his hands together. "What's up?"

"What do you think we should do when... I mean if they win again?" The chairman looked a bit confused. "I don't know if we should just leave it at that, or if we should go for a four way-"

"Yeah." Riley nodded. "Or another Tyson vs. Kai. I think that the five of them know that that would be the battle to remember, so you should hold a special exhibition match."

"I agree," Hiro said, nodding his approval. "Everyone knows that the tides constantly turn between the two, and then we'll see who's trained harder during the year."

Dickenson nodded as well. "I think you are right, we should do that. That's-"

The sound of Hiro's cell phone interrupted the thoughts of the three occupants of the office. "What is it Tyson, I'm in a meeting?"

_"I just wanted to know when you'd be done! Jeez, everyone's being all spazzy."_

The chairman laughed. "Tell him you're done. I just need to speak with Riley for a moment. I'm sure she'll catch up with you later."

"Okay." He moved his hand from over the speaker on the phone. "We'll be there soon bro, chill out."

_"Fine. Bye."_ Hiro said his own goodbyes to the chairman and stepped out of the room.

"I talked to your social worker," Dickenson said, quietly. "I should be getting everything to take care of the final step within the next few days by fax."

"So everything's basically taken care of?"

"It should be."

"Yes!" She nearly jumped across the desk, wrapping the man up in a hug that caught him off guard. "Thank you so much!"

"Anytime, Riley, anytime."

xxxxxxxxxx

Kai launched his beyblade for the thirty-second time that day. He'd counted. It was frustrating. She made it seem easy, like he should be able to beat her, but every attempt was futile. Even Dranzer was getting annoyed, and it was hard to bother her. She seemed to have an unbreakable focus and determination, but this new addition to their training staff was starting to drive both of them mad.

After deciding to take a break, he recalled his beyblade and walked out of the park, headed down the main road of the city. The B.B.A. building was approaching on his right.

_/Master Kai./_

'What do we need to do? We've always come up with an edge from somewhere, and it has never taken this long to figure out. I don't even know if she has a bit beast.'

_/That is one thing I know for sure. I feel the fire in her heart. There is a great force within her beyblade, though we have never seen it. I can sense it, I've felt that power before. It is a fiery creature, but I do not know which one./_

'Would calling it out do us any good?'

_/We'd see it, but I don't know if we'd be able to stop it. This young woman is talented enough to take out all of us without revealing the being within her beyblade./_

Kai didn't like knowing that, but it was true. 'It isn't Black Dranzer, is it?'

_/No, young one, Black Dranzer was destroyed for good by Tyson./_

'Well then, we keep practicing until she does reveal it.'

"HEY!"

Kai looked up to see a short young woman with jade colored eyes and spiky brown hair. She was dressed in baggy clothes and had a beyblade, ready to launch. "What do you want?" The Russian asked, annoyed that someone had bothered him in the middle of a conversation with his bit beast.

"A beybattle. Right now."

"Fine." Kai loaded Dranzer onto his launcher.

"Not with you, kid." She paused. "You know where Riley Phillips is?"

"No, but I'm here right now. Let's go."

She laughed, and a group of four people came up behind her, three men, and one girl. "See, and I wasn't going to fight you, but since you insist..." She launched her beyblade with such an intense fury, that it nearly knocked the Russian to the ground. The white beyblade ricocheted past him, and he narrowly avoided it, ducking out of the way.

"We do this fair," Kai asserted.

"We do it my way," The woman said darkly. "Or else."

"What are you," Kai started, unimpressed, "The ghetto bitch from the maffia or something?"

"No, I'm the leader of Infinity, asshole. I teach kids how to take care of World Class idiots and their bit beasts. Idiots like you." In the back of his mind, he registered something that Dickenson had said about how dangerous Infinity was, much less any beyblader of that rank. But he was Kai. He'd faced tough opponents, and found ways to defeat them. He wasn't afraid of anyone or anything.

"Let's just do this." He launched Dranzer, and within a fraction of a second, the white beyblade was slicing his into pieces. He swore he had just seen the attack ring sliced off. And damn, he felt the attack just as much as Dranzer did. It flipping killed. He doubled over in pain, cursing in Russian. What the hell was the deal with these random opponents again?

"You had your chance to get Riley, you should've listened and done it. Then it wouldn't have hurt so much. I'm not your average opponent, Mr. Hiwatari." His mind suddenly focused on Riley. What did Infinity want with her? She was just some B.B.A. trainer, right?

"Dranzer!" The phoenix emerged in a bout of fire from his blue blade and shrieked in anguish at the woman challenger. "Blazing Gigs Tempest!"

"I don't think so." The woman, up until this point had her hands at her side, like they had been weighed down by invisible weights. Now, she extended one forward, and raised it into the air, Kai felt a splitting pain in his side, like he was being sqeezed around the middle. Suddenly it subsided, and he realized that Dranzer had been privy to the same attack, if not of a larger magnitude. "You should learn to stop running blindly into challenges, sweetheart. I could kill you right now and not have a second thought."

"Attack!"

"Bad move."

His beyblade gained some speed and surged toward the white one, which slammed right back at it, knocking it into pieces, which vaporized with the sudden shock waves emmited by the white blade. Kai stared in shock. That was it? It was over... Shit. He suddenly realized that this was very real, no game, and this woman was probaby going to kill him. She was an Infinite, he realized. This was the power they were talking about. Dranzer's bit landed in front of him, and though piercing pain was running through every fiber of his being at this point, her latched himself onto her bit, as she began to vaporize into particles of light.

'I'm sorry,' He said, through their link, dropping to his knees.

_/Luck is not with us, is it/_

xxxxxxxxxx

"So I'll come down here later and we'll make everything final."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later." Riley gave the man a quick hug and opened the doors to step into the sunlight of early afternoon.

She heard the sound of a shattering beyblade. Oh crap, she thought, looking around. It had come from pretty close to her. The B.B.A. headquarters was located on the corner of two streets. So, she decided to take the obvious route and round the corner.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Don't worry, _sweetheart_, it'll be over soon." The girl took a few steps toward him, pulling something outside her pocket, which he recognized as a knife. Did he mention he hated knives?

Kai bowed his head in shame. He was going to die, he just knew it. There was no way that he was going to live through this, with no beyblade, no defense.

From a short distance away, Riley cringed. She knew that voice. And she loathed it. Without a second of thought, she had her beyblade launched, surging in front of the boy. It collided with the white one in a shower of sparks before they both bounced back, in opposite directions.

Kai's head shot up. What the hell was going on here? He wasn't dead yet?

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the traitor. How's it kickin', Riley?"

"Get the fuck out of here, Amanda." Her voice sounded venomous. His head spun, and he didn't think it was from the wounds on his sides, which appeared to be leaking crimson themselves. Wait a second. They're on a first name basis? Something was definitely messed up.

"I don't think so. Arcana, frenzy attack!"

From out of the white beyblade came purple sparks, and finally a large demonic dragon that towered about fifteen stories high. It was at this time that Kai backed a few steps, realizing the situation at hand. "Holy bit beast."

"Get them. _Now_." Riley didn't bother to turn around, nor did she seem phased. The creature's head came rushing down at them, fangs beared.

"Run!" Kai shook himself a bit, and turned around in the opposite direction, headed for the B.B.A. building, the closest one. He shut himself inside, then ran straight for the elevator. Dickenson was not going to believe this.

Once she was sure he was out of the way, Riley threw a hand out in front of the beast. "That isn't going to work on me, Amanda. Try again." The dragon froze at her fingertips, paralyzed, before it retreated with an enraged cry.

"I'll rip you to shreds, Phillips." Amanda ran a hand through her spiky scalp and called out another attack, seemingly catching Riley off guard.

"The hell you will, bitch!" The crimson eyed girl cursed a moment later, as the attack knocked her beyblade out of sync. However, she realized that the competition was probably some of the best she'd had in months.

"Again, Arcana. Destroy her!"

Riley jumped back, mimicing her beyblade, and then extended her hands, causing her beyblade to surge forward into her opponent's. "It is time," she called, her voice rich and taking on more meaning than before.

"You aren't in some movie. Cut the dramatics and let's see what you've got. Arcana, do it!" Arcana swooped down, from its previous position in flight.

"Alright. You're asking for it."

"I've been," Amanda said, her patience dieing. "I want you to fight me. Seattle style. You still think you're hot, you're fresh off the streets? Let's go go. Prove it to me. Arcana, let's just go!"

Riley closed her eyes, and waited for the attack and the beast to come to her. "Taidra!"

xxxxxxxxxx

Kai took the steps two at a time, while trying stupidly to catch his breath. Stupid elevator would've taken him all day if he waited, and this seemed to be a pretty important matter. The building was thirty stories high, and the chairman's usual office was located on the seventeenth floor. He threw himself at the door, having it fly open.

"Kai? What are you doing here?" The Russian teen said nothing, instead going to the northern side of the room, glowing with sunlight. Suddenly, the sunlight was blocked out by something purple, causing the room to be nearly pitch black.

"Some girl showed up."

"What?" Dickenson appeared next to him at the floor-to-ceiling windows that covered the northern wall. "Who was she?"

"Amanda. The leader of Infinity."

"Excuse me?" Kai was no longer paying attention to the chairman. His eyes were focused on the battle playing out before him. Dickenson opened the window on the end closest to the battle, and sound became available to the two male spectators.

"Infernal rush!" The dragon reared, and began emitting shock waves, which seemed to slice through the air all the way up where Kai and Mr. Dickenson were. Suddenly, a dark purple orb began to form from the heart of the dragon, expanding outward, covering where Riley was. A boom, probably an explosion came from the side of the orb, where Riley was located. As quickly as it had come, the orb disappeared, and smoke blanketed the area where their battle was taking place.

"Clear it out!" Dickenson sighed in relief as he heard Riley's voice echo among the taller buildings in the city. The smoke began to clear, and cherry red tips began to waver through the smoke that remained, and eventually, a large beast was revealed.

"What the heck is that?" Kai asked, to no one in particular.

_/Taidra, young one./_

It was a black four legged creature, with an almost dog-like face. Piercing red eyes and a mane of red flames trailed behind it, as well as a matching tail of flames. Around each of its four paws was a crown-like guard of red titanum, on the top of its head there was an overgrowth that rose up with a gem shaped hollow in the center, and the color faded from black at the bottom into red at the top. Three diamond shaped red spots decorated her left flank, just below the flaming mane.

"Taidra," Kai repeated, and the B.B.A. founder turned and gave him a crazy look. Meanwhile, a beeping sound errupted from the fax machine, and some papers were processed through it.

"How did you know that?"

"Dranzer," he said, keeping one fist clenched around his bit chip. His focus shifted back to the battle.

The beast rose about fifteen stories, and a ferocious roar was emitted into the air. It was angry, _very_ angry.

"I'll tear you and that- that creature limb from limb." Their beyblades collided again, and this time, Riley jumped back, out of the way.

"The hell you will." She sent her beyblade back at Amanda's and the gang leader extended her hand to move the two spinning tops back away from her. Riley rolled her eyes. She was wasting energy doing that.

"I beg to differ."

"I don't think so." Taidra turned and looked at Riley, her mistress. "Omegacide."

Amanda's eyes widened in horror, while a smirk remained on Riley's face. "You- you can't control-"

Everything within a fifty foot radius, including both beybladers and their beyblades, became enclosed in a glowing orb of an cherry crimson hue. Suddenly, there was an earth shaking tremor and a fierce roar, followed by the sound of earth being lifted up from underneath itself. Afterwards, it sounded like a long, hard explosion.

Their battle had been held in the center of an intersection, where traffic was currently being redirected, if there was any. Hell, who wouldn't be a little miffed by the presence of two huge towering beasts. It was like being there when Godzilla was about to trample the city.

"Oh dear lord," Dickenson said, rushing to his desk and pushing a button on the intercom. "Get a team of medics out there. Stat!"

Kai figured he'd be of no use in his current location, and sprinted out the door, taking on the stairs again. After nearly jumping down the flights, he took on the main doors, still running. If she lived through that battle, he might actually have to thank her for the intense training. His endurance was impecible.

He rushed into the clearing smoke. Her bit beast was gone. Hell, once he stepped into the clearing smoke, he realized that he had gone down a few inches. It was a crater, he realized. Everything inside it was gone. Obliterated. Resolved to nothingness.

"Oh man," Kai said, suddenly devastated. There was no way anyone could've-

From out of the smoke, Kai made out a figure edged in red, and another figure in her arms. Dickenson appeared at Kai's side, his face revealing concern that the Russian teen had never seen on him before.

Riley caught sight of the two men waiting anxiously at the edge of the crater. A team of paramedics appeared, taking the girl from her, as well as the fragments of her shattered beyblade. The red edge faded away, and Riley sighed, her strength still there, but weakening a bit. She felt good. The last time she'd faced off against Amanda, she'd lost terribly. Now she had beaten her, and she couldn't be called a traitor anymore.

As she passed Kai, she glared at him darkly. "Don't you _ever_ make me have to do that again."

xxxxxxxxxx

Dickenson had guided both teens into his office. Kai looked considerably indifferent, though his eyes gave away the fact that something had just happened to shock him. On the other side of the room, looking out the window was Riley, who seemed to be alright, though a flare of anger seemed to resonate off her. The chairman promptly began calling people and places looking for damage control alternatives, seeing as he'd never seen that type of attack before, and had to deal with how to repair the damage. Then he would ask her just how she did that.

"Did she challenge you?" Riley asked quietly, after a long silence between the teens. Kai turned his head over his shoulder and looked at her.

"No."

"You challenged her?"

"Hn."

Her eyes returned to their previous stance, gazing out the window at the mess that both she and Amanda had made. She had just destroyed the area. Amanda would've punched a few holes in the ground. But she couldn't afford to lose, and beyond what anyone else knew, had she not used that attack, she would've.

"Do you know how stupid that was?"

Kai said nothing. And then, "She was asking for you."

"So you decided to be the tough guy and say 'why don't you battle me instead?' Great job, Hiwatari, you are an asshole."

"Riley, that's enough." She nodded at the elder man's comment, and sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the room. "Why didn't you tell me that you could inflict that kind of damage?"

She closed her eyes. "I told you Omegacide was a powerful attack." She glanced back at Kai, who had his eyes closed, still appearing like he didn't care.

"Still." He clasped his hands together on the desk. "Are there any more beybladers who can use that move?"

"No. It's an attack I created. Only I can use it, or someone I choose... you know. Someone who has seen it could try." He nodded. "And I just threw the leader of Infinity into the back of an ambulance, so once she gets back to Seattle, I'm pretty sure she'll tell them that they need to train harder, even though she'll lie and say she beat me."

"Have you beaten her before?" She whipped her head around in Kai's direction.

"No. No I haven't." Kai nodded, and returned to his emotionless state.

Dickenson leaned back in his chair. "I will admit that that was amazing."

"Thanks. I just wish I didn't have to keep her locked up all the time. She was quite annoyed up until today."

"Competition of your level in these parts are scarce."

"Well, obviously, since the only decent competition flew in from Seattle." She rolled her eyes at the mention of the gang leader. "Perhaps someday one of your teams will become members of the Infinite Class." She looked over to Kai, who cracked an eye open at her comment. He had a feeling it was directed toward his team.

"Perhaps. Just please, the next time you decide to do that, locate yourself in a field that we can replace with dirt, not a major intersection of the city." She grunted in agreement at the chairman's pleading.

"But still, it was cool, right?"

"Beyond."

Kai found himself nodding, though she couldn't see it. "Not too many beybladers can total that much area in such a short amount of time."

"Are you okay?"

"What?"

"The reason I've been yelling at you. You have Dranzer, she's alright?"

"Yes." Kai settled back in his chair.

"Good. You don't want to know what they'd do to her after they'd take her."

"What?"

Riley sighed. She'd set herself up for that one. "After they'd beat you up a bit, they'd strip her. Feather by feather. Then they'd destroy her. Then they'd kill you."

"Who the hell are these people?" Kai asked, outraged. That was sick, and even he knew it.

"The gang name is Infinity," Dickenson said. "Be grateful Riley knows how to deal with them. Otherwise that would've very much been the case."

"So she was an infinite," Kai mused aloud.

"Yes."

"So am I."

She figured Kai had realized that by now and turned her attention back to the chairman. "I'm sorry about the damage, but I figured one intersection was better than half the city, which Amanda would've done, if given the opportunity."

Dickenson nodded. "I agree, though the damage was incredible from just a single attack. I don't know how you can control that destructive power."

"It took a lot of practice."

She took a look at the fax machine in the corner. "Hey, you got something, Mr. D."

He walked over and pulled out the paper. "Do you know what this is?"

"A ton of forms for me to fill out?"

"Well, not exactly, but you have to sign it. It's the last step."

"Alright." He picked up two pens, handing her one. He then signed his name in neat, English cursive, and handed it to her. She did the same. "Hey... wait." Glancing over at the Russian, whose eyes were closed, she thought about it for a moment. It wasn't like he didn't already know her biggest secret. "Hiwatari, get your ass over here. I need a witness."

xxxxxxxxxx

**_Author's notes:_** Well, there's the third chapter, I'm glad it's longer than the others... Anywho, I'm sure most of you know what the witness thing is for. And about Taidra, if anyone has seen Suicune, think no ribbon-y things, and a different color scheme. And that's about it.

Please review!

x3 Distant Storm


	5. Up The Anti

Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade. All I do own is my plot line, OC's and any of their extensions.

Summary: The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Four: Up the Anti

Distant Storm

* * *

"Well, I'd have to say that you've improved," Tyson stated, his cocky nature coming into effect, "But I'm not going to let you win. Dragoon, Galaxy Storm!"

The group was training out on top of the hills surrounding the city, making their field grassy and a bit uneven, but good for battling. Tyson and Kai had decided to take each other on last, so that if they decided to destroy the hilltop, they'd at least had the chance for the others to train.

Blue and grey collided multiple times, and a tornado emerged from the bit of the grey one. Kai gritted his teeth and recalled Dranzer to regroup, before sending her back into the eye of the storm. "Dranzer! Volcano Emission!"

"Don't take that, Dragoon! Beat him into the ground!"

Fire began to rush up the tornado, and the cry of a dragon was heard. In a whirl of power, it sent Dranzer back out of the storm, which cleared revealing the blunette's bit beast. Dranzer appeared as well, with the accent of a few fallen feathers.

Riley watched, interested. She hadn't let them battle each other with their bit beasts before, but now she decided it was time to let them go all out. After all, they didn't have much time until it started snowing. Then they'd be confined to any dry patch of land they could find outside, or the B.B.A. Training physilities. And honestly, she didn't want to have to total them training the championship team.

"Dranzer, attack him again!" Dranzer chased around the dragon, both via beyblade, and sky. eventually, she caught up to him, but Dragoon added some extra oomph to it's flight, and surged skyward, ahead once more. Kai growled in frustration. He was not going to lose to Tyson again.

"Dude," Ray yelled to Kai, "Char his ass!"

"I don't think he'll be able to," Max said. "Tyson's gotten a lot faster."

"It's the upgrade on the beyblade," Hilary chimed in.

"Yeah, we made it lighter."

"Good going, Chief," Riley responded, squinting her eyes to see up into the sunlight. Dragoon was coming down closer to Dranzer, now would be the perfect time for an attack.

"Galaxy Storm!" Tyson called, and another tornado formed, rising up from the ground. It concealed Dragoon like a defence, but it was also pulling Dranzer in as an offence. Kai clenched his fists. He was going to lose if he didn't do something...

But none of his attacks worked against the champ. The flames always got burned out like a flipping birthday candle. Although...

'There is one attack we could try.'

_/What is it/_

'The one Riley-'

_/I'm not so sure that's a good idea, but I trust you. Just be careful./_

'Okay, let's buy ourselves some time.'

"Are you going to battle me, or stare off into space?" Tyson taunted. Kai blinked, and determination flooded into his features.

"Let's go."

"Now you're talking." Blue and grey collided again, causing the shrieking of both beasts.

"Dranzer!"

"Dragoon!"

"Omegacide!"

"Oh fuck no."

Ray looked over at her curiously. "What did he just say?"

"Omegacide," Max chimed in. "At least, that's what I think he said."

Dranzer began to glow eerily, and a red orb of light began to form, like a bubble. It grew to a decent size, then shrunk again, like the power was wavering. She noted the confusion on Tyson's face, and the determination on Kai's. Immediately, his hand, which had been extended forward fell limp at his side, his energy almost gone.

"Attack!" Kai yelled, and the orb of light began to explode.

Riley wasted no time in grabbing the still revolving Dragoon with her left hand and tackling Tyson. Dragoon vaporized into sparks upon impact with the girl's hand. They fell to the ground with a mighty crash as the explosion ricocheted at them with impecible speed. An arrow of light headed toward them and Riley shoved the champion away. It hit her causing three sounds. One was her scream, and the second was Dranzer's cry. The third was an earth shattering roar, that both Kai and Hiro recognized, but chose to say nothing.

"Riley!" Tyson yelled, sprinting back to where he had just stood and rolling the face down girl over. She was gone, though her face was dirty and distorted, revealing pain. He opened her clenched fist and saw Dragoon nestled in it, along with her blood. He looked up at a bewildered Kai. "What the hell was that?"

"I- I don't know," he answered honestly. His beyblade was wedged in the dirt.

Tyson growled in rage and checked the unconscious girl for a pulse. "At least she's alive," Tyson stated angrily. "Let's get her back to my place." Ray came over and picked her up, saving the already wiped out blunette from carrying her back to the dojo.

Hiro, who had remained silent until this point, looked at Kai with a dangerous expression. Thoughts were racing through the warrior's mind. He knew that Riley had used that attack a total of one time since coming to Bakuten. And from what he knew from Riley, Kai wasn't there. Unless...

Unless he was hiding and saw it, or she wasn't telling the truth.

* * *

She groaned and cracked open one eye. The clock to her right said it was already evening, reading 6:32. She sat up, allowing her vertebre to clink back into line, with some numbing pain included, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. God, she was going to kill that kid. What the hell was he thinking?

_"It's an attack I created. Only I can use it, or someone I choose... you know. Someone who has seen it could try."_

Oh yeah, she remembered. That. It had been a few weeks since that day, and it was now November. Taking a peek out the window, she realized it was already dark, and snow was falling. It wasn't sticking to the still warm ground, but it was coming down all the same.

By the time she had decided to stand up, Ray had knocked gently on the door. "Oh," he said, surprised. "You're awake?"

"Yeah." She smiled at him. "Everyone okay?"

He nodded. "Well Kai's a little shaken, but I doubt he'll say anything." He looked down at her hand. "Your hand okay?"

"It hurts a bit," she noted, "But it's not anything that won't heal in a few days."

Ray nodded, and smiled at her. "Tyson was freaking out."

"Tell everyone I'll be out in a minute. I'm starving, and I need to get changed."

"Okay. Hiro will probably want to check out your back, we didn't touch it, since it wasn't bleeding." She shrugged.

"Now that hurts."

"That arrow of light hit it dead on."

"Yeah." Ray turned away from her, stepping smoothly out the door. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Thanks. And I'll be out in a few." She shut the door behind him and drew out her beyblade, which had been left in her pocket.

_/Are you okay, Riley/_

'Fine.'

_/In that case, you should've let me help you./_

'I can picture that face, Tai', but you know I can't let them know about us. It's bad enough that Kai knows, and look what he did. I didn't think he'd try to do that.'

_/You should've made him swear not to use those attacks./_

'I know.'

_/Are you sure you're alright/_

'Yeah.'

Riley turned her back to the mirror and tilted her head over her shoulder. Pulling up the back of her shirt, she gasped. She had barely brushed the mark, but it burned and caused some excruciating pain to radiate through her body. The bruise was dark, and followed an uneven shape, where the ground had come in contact with her, and just the radiating effect of that large arrow of energy that had hit her.

In a random outbreak, she realized she had begun swearing in Russian. Her mother had never learned Russian, so that was the only way she had ever said what she wanted without getting in trouble. Of course, she thought that when you were married to someone, you'd probably learn their traits as well, language included.

One couldn't help but guess her mother wasn't good with relationships either.

After closing her eyes and trying to make the pain subside, she went to the adjacent bathroom and bent down, using her knees to try and keep from disturbing her back. That was going to hurt in the morning, she realized. It would take a while to go away.

She pulled out a washcloth from the cabinet and threw it in the sink, running cold water to help her wake up a bit. After washing her face, she ran a comb through her hair and put it back in a messy, off-center ponytail. Once this was taken care of, she pulled off the bandages wrapped around her hand. Her palm was pretty messed up, but she could fix that problem. The outline of the beyblade was imprinted in a cut that followed just below the beginning of her fingers. She rebandaged it, and went back into the bedroom area.

In one of the drawers containing her things, she found what she was looking for: a black, fingerless glove. That would save her from any discomfort during launch. After that, she got changed, and lingered for a moment in the doorway.

"Well," she said aloud, but to herself, "I better go make sure I didn't send them all into a state of shock."

_/You seem to have that effect on people, Ril'./_

'Shut up.'

* * *

Kai sat in the corner of the room, watching the others cautiously. He had neary gotten into a fist fight with Tyson an hour ago, and Hiro was still giving him death glares. This was not good. Riley had said that no one knew about her ability and Taidra, with the exception of Mr. Dickenson. However, he had the feeling that Hiro probably knew. Tyson was too dense, and the others didn't know her from anywhere other than here. He'd seen it up close. And that was his only way to win. Obviously that didn't work out too good.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Hilary asked. "She's been out a long time." She traced the edge of the mug she had filled with hot chocolate.

"I analyzed the energy that hit her. It was pure energy from Dranzer. She should be in pain for a bit, but she'll be fine once she wakes up.

Ray entered the room, causing Tyson, Hiro, and their grandfather to look up at them. "Yo, Ray-dawg, what's the scoop on Ry-girl?"

"Riley will be out in a few. She's okay."

A sigh of relief spread across the occupants of the room, Kai included. The last thing he intended to do was kill someone. "_You_," Tyson explained, his voice heavy and dark, "Have some apologizing to do."

"Hn." Kai didn't bother responding. It was going to result in a fist fight if he did.

"Everyone calm down." Hiro looked at Kai for a moment with a burning stare and then softened up on his brother. "Just chill out. She'll probably beat the shit out of him herself."

Kai resisted the urge to gulp. Or she'd challenge him to a beybattle. That was what he was worried about. He'd seen that bit beast angered before, and that was one sight he'd rather not have directed toward him.

A figure inched its way into the doorway. "Hey guys," Riley said, a small smile present on her face. Grandpa came up to her and looked her directly in the eye.

"Are you alright?"

"Peachy." She looked over at Kai, and he caught what she meant. They were going to have a little talk later. "Don't worry about me. I'm just a little sore."

Max moved over on the couch and gave her a spot to sit down, which she did, wincing a bit as she rested her back against the soft cushions. Tyson came and sat next to her, on the arm of the edge of the thing. "Thanks, Ry," he said, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. A growling sound from behind him made Max, Ray, and Daichi laugh. Riley turned around, focusing her glance on Hilary.

"He's all yours sweetheart," She said, with a laugh. Hilary turned red, and Tyson looked confused. "Don't worry, Ty, you'll get it. Eventually."

"Yeah, when 'it' is married to you and you have three kids," Max chimed in. The group laughed, except Hilary, who whacked him on the back of the head.

Hiro placed a hand on her shoulder. "I told Mr. Dickenson what happened."

Riley spun around, and then gasped. That twisting of the back thing, yeah, it wasn't working out. "You what?"

"You should give him a call."

"Great, now he's going to kill me."

"Why? All you did was protect me," Tyson said, innocently.

"Don't worry about it, Ty. I'll deal with that in a bit." She glanced over at Kai. "Come on, Sourpuss, let's go. You have some explaining to do." She got up and grabbed her red padded jacket and his black one, throwing it at him.

"You just got up, now you're going out? Don't you think that you should rest?"

"I need to stretch, and Kai and I need to have a talk. If Mr. Dickenson calls, tell him to call my cell phone." Kai threw his jacket on and followed her to the door, slipping on his shoes as she slid on hers.

"So," Hilary said, her blush from before almost faded, "All in favor of Riley kicking Kai's ass, say 'Aye.'"

"AYE!"

"That settles it, he's screwed."

* * *

The streets were deserted at seven o'clock at night this time of year. A few snow flakes had stuck to the ground, much to Riley's surprise. She glanced over, every so often to make sure he was still following her. His typical insensitive attitude wasn't really working right at that point in time, and his emotions were leaking out.

"Are you okay?" She asked him gently.

His head shot up in her direction in surprise. He thought for a moment and nodded. "Yeah."

They continued on in silence, until they had hit the beach, and the large bridge that crossed over the river. She stopped half way across the bridge and leaned against one of the iron support beams, watching the snow plummet from the sky to the water.

"You could've killed Tyson," She said carefully. "If I hadn't stepped in, you probably would have."

Kai said nothing, not entirely convinced. "Like you said, I'm not as strong as you."

"So? You have power, don't you? You're one of the best beybladers in the world."

"Not since there are Infinites now."

"You underestimate yourself." She extended her hand out over the edge of the bridge and caught some snowflakes on it. Her injured hand stayed in the sleeve of her jacket. "The fact that it even worked surprised me. Personally, I thought you were a goner." Her gaze traveled skyward, watching as the white specks first appeared high above them.

"How so?"

"Like I said before, people who have seen it can _try_ to use the attack. I never said that it would work."

"It wasn't like the one you used."

"You weren't trained like me." She turned his attention toward him. Her voice was still majestic, like a tone she reserved for being a coach only. "I've watched you battle, I know about the Abbey, I know all about you. It's my job. I'm just saying that you haven't been trained like I have. They didn't teach you the same techniques that made me as I am."

Kai said nothing. Dranzer seemed to heat up his pocket, like a coal to keep his hands warm.

"Your attack was powerful, but it was Dranzer's raw energy. Didn't you feel weak when the attack left you?" Kai nodded. "The true Omegacide, had you actually used it, requires two things. The orb of destruction, and the oath." She paused. "You have to have good intentions, or all in the sphere will perish, the user included. That's why I had that red aura around me that day. That was Taidra's raw energy. It becomes like a shield, to protect you from any of the destruction that may try to take you out. It saves your energy too, so it doesn't leave you weak."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"If you decide to try again, you might want to concentrate on shielding yourself, or else you and your target will perish as well. The only reason I didn't die on contact was because I can use the attack myself. That power within me saved me. Not that it doesn't hurt like hell." She placed a hand on her bruised back and winced.

Kai was caught off guard. "Do you really expect me to try again?"

"I was told that you weren't a quitter." She shrugged. "If you want, I can help you."

"Excuse me?" His eyes were wide. This was not something he expected.

"You've got potential. Why do you think I've been working you harder?" He didn't quite know what to say, so Riley continued. "Someone's got to give Tyson a run for his money."

"We're on the same team."

"So?" Riley walked to the other side of the bridge so the wind was blowing her hair back behind her. "We all know that when you guys win, and I mean when because I know you will, you and Tyson aren't going to be satisfied until one of you beats the other in a beybattle and we have a champion. I think it's time for a change of pace, personally."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you not hear what I said? If you can become strong, an Infinite Class beyblader, maybe this year we won't be watching Tyson accept the medal. Maybe you won't be watching at all." She turned around and smirked at him.

"Why would you help me?"

"I want a change of pace, and I don't think Tyson would be able to do this just yet."

"He's the better beyblader."

"Just because he usually wins? Come on, Tyson believes he's good enough to win. He's lazy. He won't work really hard unless someone else is really, really better than him."

Kai went for a different approach. "Don't you want to compete? You could be the champion."

She shook her head. "I can throw Infinites around like rag dolls, remember? I won't compete until there's a challenge." She leaned forward, over the edge of the bridge. "In a way, Hiwatari, we're a lot alike." He came to her side of the bridge.

"You're offering to teach me so that you can have some competition?"

She smiled at him and winked. "Bingo. I'm glad you get it. Now I don't have to be such a bitch because you know the purpose of my working you into the ground." She leaned back, arching her back and nearly fell over, however, Kai grabbed her just before she hit the pavement covering the bridge.

"Are you alright?"

"Your attack fricken hurt, but yeah, I'm okay." She broke out of his grasp. "And you ask too many questions. Not that I mind, you're actually talking to me."

"You want me to be at your level, but Tyson's good too, he could do it as well." She rolled her eyes at him.

Going back the way they came, Kai followed Riley, however she went down by the river, which was starting to freeze over. "I'm not asking Tyson, am I? I can pick apart everything about your beyblading and make it a million times better. You've already proven yourself, and I want to see just how good you can become. I trust you more than Tyson anyway."

"Why?"

"Because you know what kind of destruction lingers with attacks like there. Tyson is too innocent, like a child. While in some cases that might be good, in this one, it isn't. You've been there and so have I."

"You have a dark history?"

"You were the one who signed as the witness so Dickenson could be my legal guardian, which by the way, thank you for not telling anyone." He shrugged. "You know I was in Infinity, there's the deal with my father."

"The Russian one?"

"No, my other father. Yes the Russian one." Her eyes glazed over. "He was murdered when I was five. I watched them do it." He said nothing. "And the reason you had to sign that paperwork is because my mom disowned me because I wouldn't be her corporate slave. No one controls me." She paused. "Great life, huh?"

"Hn."

"So do you want my help or not?"

Kai thought for a moment. She was in a way, just like him. Parental issues, control complexes, secrets galore... not to mention skills and a thirst for competition. "Yeah."

"Good." She turned around and extended a hand, which he shook. "We'll start during in a week. It'll be good because the December holiday is coming up. Everyone else is leaving, so we'll have the Dojo to ourselves, with the exception of Tyson, who will sleep the entire time. And you can't tell anyone about this either. If Hiro asks you if I'm training you, tell him yes, and if he asks you what for, tell him some bullshit about being good enough to beat Tyson. After all, it wouldn't be a complete lie."

"He's been looking at me like he's going to kill me all day. I thought you said he didn't know."

"He does. I didn't think you'd use my attack, but that's how I beat him once before. He's well aware of what level of competition I require."

Kai nodded. This girl was just about all over the place. But she was going to help him beat Tyson. So that's all that mattered. "Tyson thought you were going to beat the shit out of me."

She smiled cheekily at him, and slapped him once across the face. He winced, and felt the red hand appear easily in the cold. "No. If I was going to beat the shit out of you, you wouldn't be standing. But let him think you didn't get off easy." She started the treck back to the dojo slowly, and Kai followed. Maybe it was just her, but she noticed that there was a bit of a weight lifted off his shoulders. "You know, I'm still not going to take it easy on you during the regular practices."

"Hn."

"Good."

"Do you assume that means yes all the time?"

"Well, you don't have a choice. I thought it was just a general fact you should be aware of." She smirked at him, and pulled her jacket closer to her. "God, it's cold out here."

"You're half Russian, right? Deal with it."

"Three quarters, actually, and you're the one shivering." She couldn't help but laugh while Kai rolled his eyes.

"This doesn't make us friends, just because you're helping me."

"I never even had that thought, but whatever you say."

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_** I cranked this out in one day. Woo! Anyway, review(three is my goal per chapter), and I'll post next chapter.

Distant Storm x3


	6. Our Little Secret

Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade. All I do own is my plot line, OC's and any of their extensions.

Summary: The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Five: Our Little Secret

Distant Storm

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Riley threw the bag onto the ground. "You're lucky Tyson is a bottomless pit. He totaled a twenty-four pack of this stuff in less than two hours." She pulled out one of the pop cans, and placed them in a particular order.

He grunted. "Great, now we can listen to him belch all night."

"Wrong." She held up a finger in his face, and he blinked. "He's leaving in an hour to go visit his aunt and uncle with his grandpa and Hiro. We get the place to ourselves."

Pulling out his beyblade and launcher, he muttered a whatever. "What do you want me to do, exactly?" He asked, after she finished her layout.

Riley looked at him like he was out of his mind. "Destroy them, what else?"

After another mutter about insane girls, he launched his beyblade and went after the twenty four cans before him with a vengeance. Within a minute and thirty seconds, all of them were crushed flat.

"There," he said, recalling his beyblade.

She rolled her eyes, not impressed at all. "I said destroy them, idiot." She picked up one of them. It was hot to the touch, and she grasped it in her cold hand. "These still look like they were pop cans at one point. Melt them, do something," she said, irritated.

Kai growled, and she threw the crushed can she had picked up before him. "Go."

He relaunched his blue beyblade, first rounding up all of the scattered cans, before calling upon Dranzer, who liquified the cans into a solidifying heap with a fiery blast.

"Alright," she said, though not entirely happy. "I guess I'll buy it." She turned her attention away from Kai, and scoped out the hill they had trained on the day he had decided to try her attack. "Come on."

He followed her willingly, having no idea just what the hell she was thinking. He had been dealing with these 'private sessions' for two weeks now, and despite the fact that she was working him almost twice as hard for twice as long, he didn't see any real change, or anything big that he was learning. Personally, he wasn't quite sure how a person got to be at her level. It was impossible, he thought. So far, at least.

"Come on, slowpoke."

"Yeah, yeah."

His attitude was beginning to bug her. She was playful, then extremely serious, and nothing was ever good enough for her, then she was concerned about his health. It was like she was extremely bi-polar or something. Either that or it was just the way she was, and he didn't really like it.

She waited for him on top of the hill, her beyblade launched into the snow. Almost immediately, the snow within the circle she had carved out with her beyblade disappeared, and the ground was completely dry. It was wierd, he thought. It felt warm within the circle as well.

"Ready?" She asked, recalling her beyblade and locking it back into place on her launcher. "I'll take it easy on you."

"Don't."

He looked determined, and she nodded. "Alright. Count this as your first official lesson, then."

Now we're talking. He launched his beyblade, and she launched hers as well, sending his sailing right back at him. He caught it and locked it back into the launcher. She waited. He launched again, waiting to gain speed and then charged at her, before his blade bounced right back at him.

He began swearing in Russian as his attempts continued to fail. Seventy-three, seventy-four, seventy-five... She didn't say a word about his language, she merely waited, not mocking, not anything. She called no attack, she waited for him to do it, to put a dent in her spin. About a hundred attempts later, after involving Dranzer, he dropped to one knee, panting.

She recalled Taidra, and knelt down in front of him, offering a bottle of water, which he guzzled quickly. "You okay?"

"Yeah." He got up, a bit shakily, and leaned hesitantly on her. She led him over to a picnic table, and sat down on top of it.

"What did you learn today?"

"I suck," he said, sincerely.

She rolled her eyes. "Men are babies, for once the movies are right."

He looked at her with a glare, and she took it in stride, used to his annoyance. "How so?"

"Tell me something else you learned today, oh great master of suckiness." He looked at her with a bland glare, and she smiled at him, like a little school girl.

"I can't beat you."

"Good job." She rolled her eyes and figured that he already knew that. She'd let it slide, because he wasn't going to be her friend just yet. He'd have to melt a bit first.

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Riley threw herself back onto the couch and closed her eyes. Five pm. And it was silent. Finally, she thought, holding a pillow under her head and leaning down on it. She was exhausted. With everyone- save Kai- gone, she could finally get some sleep. And that was overdue, in her oppinion.

She was in that state between sleep and being awake when Kai came into the room. He cocked his head to the side, noting that her breathing was deep and even. She murmurred incoherantly into the pillow, something about being cold.

A few minutes of watching her, he had had enough. "Can't you use your bed?" He asked, apparently annoyed.

Riley opened one eye lazily. "No. I like it here." She curled up into the fetal position, apparently cold, as her murmurring suggested. "Hey, can you get me a blanket?"

"No."

"Then lend me your scarf. It's freezing in here." He snickered, as if enjoying her discomfort. She sat up lazily, stretching out. "Fine, I won't teach you anything."

Kai froze. She was going to play games like that? Well, he'd have to bite, for now. "Alright. Where's a blanket?"

"Over the couch."

He slapped a hand to his forehead. "You're lazy."

"If someone else was here, I'd ask them, but they aren't." She batted her eyelashes at him pettily. He rolled his eyes and pulled out the blanket from the opposite side of the couch, so it was laying over her. "Thanks, hon."

Kai looked down at her, but she was already cuddled into the blanket, half asleep again. He had to admit, the way she scrunched her nose as she settled down into the blanket again was cute. "It's just because you threatened my training."

"I know, Kai, I know," she said, groggily. He sighed. This girl was insane. She was making him use words like cute.

A few minutes later, she cracked open one eye, catching him on the floor, appearing uncomfortable. "I'll share the couch, Kai," she offered, pulling her legs off the third cusion so that it was only covered by the blanket, and not her body. "Sit your ass down."

He agreed, something she hadn't expected, but she didn't really care about it, falling back asleep.

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Kai stretched, hitting something with his legs. It felt warm, and he was in something just about the equivalent of a drunken stupor, so he shimmied down next to it. He felt whatever it was cuddle up to his body warmth from under the blanket and realized that it was a human, so he immediately sat up and brought his legs over the edge of the couch. That could've become really bad, he thought, if Riley woke up.

"I'm awake you know," Riley said, practically reading his mind. "You must have been tired from the training too, heh?" Kai said nothing, and she rolled her eyes. "Want something to eat?"

He shrugged again, passively, and she took it as a yes.

"Egg rolls, wan ton... come on Kai, work with me here, I don't know what the hell you like."

He grumbled something, incoherently, mind you, and she immediately pinned him against the arm of the couch.

"Can you be tolerable? Just this once?"

"No, sorry." He went to release her hands from his shoulders, but froze when he saw this chilling look in her crimson orbs. When her eyes seemed to get a bit out of focus, he became worried. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?"

"You faded out there."

"Oh.. uh.. sorry." She sat down next to him on the couch. "Why do you wear a facade like that?"

"What?" He looked at her, a wave of incredulousness passing over her features.

She shrugged, and dismissed the entire ordeal. "Forget it."

"I don't think I will."

She looked at him. "Alright... fine. You want the truth?" He nodded. "I want to know what makes you tick."

"Everything?" He asked, a bit surprised.

"Everything."

He looked at her, his mind conjuring up ideas of what to say to her. His voice grew dark. "From the time I was little, my grandfather abused me. You want to hear about that?"

She nodded. "Has anyone listened to your entire story?"

He shook his head.

"Well you just found someone who will. So start from square one."

He smirked. "I haven't even told Dickenson, Riley, so what makes you think I'm going to tell you? You'll run right off and tell him."

She shook her head. "I haven't even told him I'm training you, and if he finds out, he'd probably kill me for it. And I wouldn't tell him your past, it's not my business to go around and spread the word. I'm just here because A, it's my job to teach you guys, and B, I agreed to help you beat Tyson. So let's go."

"What about you? You haven't told me everything."

"You're trying to get out of this." She sighed. "I will gladly tell you my entire life story, we have all night. But riddle me this: Does the prospect of me knowing things about you really scare you that much? After all, I've told you everything."

He looked a bit shocked. "No," he grumbled.

"I think it does. Let me tell you, Kai, I've been through my own personal hell, come back again, and decided to help your ass. Just do it. It'll help."

He said nothing. She had a point. At least, he thought she did.

"I'm not going to cry, or act like an idiot, just so you know. I need to know what we have to work with."

"What?"

"Your style. What we can and can't change."

"I can tell you that."

She gave him a helpless, innocent smile. "No, you really can't."

"So you really want to know? Everything?"

She nodded. "Everything."

He thought about it for a moment. This was his history, from his parents, to his abbey days, his grandfather... part of him was afraid of retelling those memories, for fear they'd become his reality again. He then discarded that thought. There was no way he'd ever go back there, that he'd ever be that person. No way in hell. And he really did want to know why she wanted to pick apart his style based on his past. What could help her there? Still...

"Alright." And just like that, a beautiful, honest, and gentle smile graced her lips. He felt a bit more relaxed by that. Was she really that happy that he was going to tell her?

Her voice seemed more mature and gentle as well. She reached over and squeezed one of his hands, before letting go. "Take your time."

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December passed without incident, fading into January, and a stretch of clear days, though four inches of snow still laid strewn across the yard. She followed the group silently, working out things in her head.

Over the past few weeks, she had made a complete breakthrough with Kai. It had started with his whole life story...

Personally, his life story sounded as bad as she thought it would, though she was entirely surprised that he had even said anything about his parents, Alevski and Mishika. She learned a bit of what they were like, how they died, how his grandfather took him in and immediately sent him to the abbey, that sort of thing. It was vicious, and he spared no detail. It was funny though, he had gone through it better than she had anticipated, but as with all troubled individuals, or people with secrets, once you start, you don't want to start until it's all off your chest.

He had done just that.

"...afterschool right, Riley?" Tyson had just finished talking. The rest of the group looked at her expectantly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

She continued on in silence with the group. Kai had already left in his all together sporty car that she had described as 'spiffy' to him about twenty minutes before. He had laughed at her. Dare she say it, after he had told her everything, and she had done the same, he seemed a lot less edgy to her, in private, almost...

Almost like a friend.

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The second final bell rung, Riley was gone, shooting out of her Honors Lit class and down the hallway. She deposited everything aside from her cell phone, ipod, and beyblade in her locker, and headed out the door. She finished up a full period before Ray, Tyson and the others, who were all still a year and a half away from completion of high school. She shrugged. It sucked for them.

She walked down the deserted halls, all seniors were either in the senior lounge, the cafeteria, or outside. Everyone else was in class. After a moment, she decided to go for some fresh air. She walked outside, noting that the large staircase outside the school was deserted, void of life. Even the birds weren't around. She shrugged and sat there, not bothering with the music of her ipod. She'd go for the silence of nature.

Within a good ten minutes, she heard the sound of a car making the sharp and occasionally deady turn from the stoplight down the street to her left, and saw it pull up in front of the school. She'd recognize that car anywhere.

It was Kai's.

He was the only one in the city with that car. She saw the window of the passenger side facing her, lower. She got up and stood there casually.

"Want a ride?"

The first day he had offered, it had caught her off guard. Now, she was used to it, sliding into the passenger's seat, and smiling at him.

She shrugged, "Sure, since you're offering."

She noted the angry stares she recieved and rolled her eyes. "I thought the school still had classes this period."

"Underclassman," she responded. "Though everyone is so obsessed with you, they call you '_The_ Kai Hiwatari.' Unless its your team mates, and then it's Sourpuss or Ice Cube. Occasionally they throw around the term 'The Human Glacier.'" She smirked over at him and he shrugged.

"Whatever." A moment later, he stopped at a red light. "Where are we training?"

"The park will be packed, let's go to the B.B.A. building. Dickenson's out of town, but I have a set of keys for the training halls, which are currently available."

"Yeah, that's what you get for being his 'kind-of-daughter.'"

She shrugged. "He's probably the nicest guardian I've ever had, not counting my father." Kai nodded gravely, leaving it alone. "The guys will probably wonder where we were, so if you want, I'll walk back."

"Don't bother. I'll just say that you were outside and I passed by. It'll be my charity act for the year." She laughed, a pure, ringing, crystaline sound.

Kai was hit with another round of a reoccuring sensation. It had been happening a lot lately, especially since that night last month when he had told her everything about his past. He felt like he could let himself loose in front of her. Like that mask just didn't work on her anymore. He kind of figured it didn't, but still, that was something he definitely couldn't do without just yet. Maybe he should ask her about it, his mind began to wonder. Of course, that would require letting his mask slip too. God, he was so confused.

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Max was the last of their team to appear underneath the large oak tree in front of the school. "Where is she?" Tyson asked him. "Have you seen Riley?"

"No," Max answered. "I could've sworn she got out a period before us. You wouldn't think she'd forget and go back to your house, do you?"

Ray shook his head. "We've already called. She isn't there."

"Her cell phone?" He offered.

"Tried it. No answer."

They argued back and forth, trying to think of ways to determine where Riley might be. "She said she'd meet us afterschool," Daichi said, annoyed. "Why isn't she here?"

"I don't know, kid," Tyson said, biting back his annoyance. "She's not usually flaky like this."

"Obviously," Ray said. "We train with her too."

A few minutes later, one of Riley's friends from her Spanish class came out. "Hey, Nina, have you seen Riley?" Max asked, his eyes reflecting concern and a bit of sincerity.

Nina stopped, her blonde hair in wavy little ringlets. "Actually, I thought you guys would've already known."

"Known what?"

The blond rolled her eyes, sighing in annoyance. "Kai pulled up right after her last class and got her. Made quite a scene, she'll probably get stoned by the freshmen, but it's all good." She paused. "I thought you knew that, he's been doing it for just about the last month."

Everyone's jaws dropped. "Uhh guys..." Tyson began, entirely confused. His emotions then did a three-sixty. "Since when did they get along, and since when does anyone other than Kai ride in Kai's car?"

They all said the same thing. "Never."

"What the hell is going on here?"

Nina backed away from the group. She drew out her cell phone and texted the girl a warning.

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Across town, in a duffel bag abandoned on the floor, a cell phone vibrated. Its owner, however, was completely oblivious. She stood in one of four underground training rooms, facing an annoyed opponent. "Come on, think, Kai."

"Shut it, would you?" Sweat was pouring off him. This was about the twentieth time he had launched his beyblade in retalliation to her. It was getting more and more exhausting, though he did at least feel accomplished.

"Don't let me piss you off!" Her beyblade quickly zipped out of the way, and came up behind his.

"Evade, Dranzer!"

Dranzer lingered for a fraction of a second too long, but it narrowly evaded Taidra and Riley's attack.

She nodded, impressed. "You've gotten faster. But there's more than speed to this."

"Yeah yeah. Dranzer, Spiral Inversion!"

Dranzer proceeded to circle Taidra a few times, and with each one, the phoenix gained speed, until all she saw was a bright red light. After a few moments, the circle minimized itself, and came crashing inward, causing a huge explosive crash.

But that wasn't what they were watching. She had caught it, and so had he.

It was only for a second, but it still held a lot of importance. This was beyond a breakthrough. "Looks like you just threw me off." She raised her eyebrows in surprise and recalled Taidra, stepping across to his side of the arena, throwing a water bottle his way. He looked up at her. She had never expected him to smile, and that was something he liked about her. Though, he decided, for the hell of it, he would. She smirked in his direction. "Don't get cocky, I haven't started attacking you yet."

He nodded. "Again?"

She looked at him, with an amused smile. "No." He was surprised. Since when had she turned him down for another bout? "You've made enough progress for today. Tomorrow we start your real training."

"What do you mean?" She grabbed her bad and held open the door for him, since she was the one who was locking it on the way out.

"You've got to start learning the attack, don't you?" Her head tilted to the side. "Though, I think I'm in the mood for ice cream now."

"I have a question to ask you."

"Yeah?"

"Are you bi-polar?"

She whacked him. "If you have to ask..." She shook her head and gave him an amused grin, which he returned with a smirk of his own. "No! You idiot!"

He shrugged, his smirk still there. "My treat," He said suddenly.

"What?" Apparently she thought the same way.

"You said you wanted ice cream," He responded.

She looked up at him. "Hey, I thought you already did your charity event for the year."

He shrugged. "Fine, buy your own ice cream."

They had left the B.B.A. building by now and were heading to his car. When they got in, she leaned over to his side of the car and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry," she said, sincerely.

He pressed a hand to his cheek. This was unusual, he realized. Wasn't that a sign of affection or something? It was something Ray did to Hilary on her birthday. Now he was definitely confused. And she had apologized. No one apologized to him. What the hell was going on here?

"It's fine."

"So are we getting ice cream?"

"You're hopeless."

"Shut up and hit the gas."

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Kai slid the door shut behind her. "Where the hell were you?" Hiro asked, his face flustered and concerned. "Tyson and the others were wondering where you were!"

"Sorry," she said, her eyes widening. "Oh shit, I was supposed to meet them, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah you were," Hiro responded hotly. "What the hell was so important that you forgot that?"

"I was training! God!"

Tyson, Ray, and Max came into the room. "Where were you?"

She noticed Kai edging through the back of the room and said nothing to awknowledge his prescence.

"Training," she repeated. "What did I do that you need to question me like a criminal?"

Tyson stalked over to her, pointing a finger directly to her face. "We know you got picked up by Kai," He said. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It was a spur of the moment thing."

"Why'd it take so long?" Ray asked, quizzically.

Riley looked up at Kai, who decided to offer some help, surprisingly. "You know how brilliance here can't keep her yap shut. We ended up in an argument, and a beybattle."

"Who won?" Max asked. Tyson's eyes narrowed. Nina had said that they were hitting it off good. What the deal? Someone had to be lying.

"Me." Riley said. Everyone looked back to Kai, Hiro included. Kai shrugged, muttering something in Russian under his breath. From behind them, Riley smirked.

She knew what he had just said. She drew out her cell phone, checking her messages and sending a text to the captain, telling him he was welcome.

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_Woot, another chapter done!_

_Please Review!_

_x3 Distant Storm_


	7. And You Thought It Would Be Easy

**This chapter was originally omitted in the scheme of my posts. One of my reviewers pointed this out to me probably more than a year ago, and I have just realized that my stupidity had left my readers without some valuable Tala-action and a crucial chapter to the story. Now there will be two chapters added today, instead of one.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I only own my OCs, and the plot line.

Summary:The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Six: And You Thought It Would Be Easy

Distant Storm

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"Omegacide is two parts, the orb, and the oath. You've gotten the oath down. Now, we do the orb part."

He nodded, determination flooding his features. "Alright."

"I'm going to do the oath for you, with Taidra. We need to work on mastering one at a time, then we'll put it together, okay?" She stood next to him, launcher held straight out. She needed no special launches here.

"Yeah."

"Taidra, I call upon the power of the oath!" She launched her beyblade, and suddenly, a bright red color flooded from it, surrounding the two of them in a shielding red coat of armor.

"Dranzer!" He launched his beyblade with as much speed as he could muster, in a rush. "Omegacide!"

From Kai's beyblade, a reddish color began to flow, though not as strong as that of Taidra. An orb of crimson formed, surrounding the beyblade. "Kai, you've got to take it easy, the attack will drain you if you aren't careful, okay?"

"I'm fine."

The orb grew in size, and Riley was beginning to get worried. She watched him, and noted that he began blinking a bit faster, as though he was tired and about to drift off.

"Kai, okay, that's enough."

"I'm fine," he pressed. She kept her eyes focused on him. The orb had begun to spiral out of control, and she could tell. "Ry-"

"Taidra, let's go!" She wasted no time in grabbing her trainee from around the waist and pulling him into herself. The second he had hit her body, he had passed out. Dranzer came flying toward her, and she extended a hand to catch the blade, which she pressed into one of Kai's limp hands. "Guess we're done for today."

She brought him down to the ground and waited for him to come around, which he did, moaning about the pain in his head.

"I told you to stop," she whispered, once his eyes had opened, darting around as if to question where he was. "You're fine, you just passed out." He sat up, a bit shaky, but was okay.

"I had it."

"Yeah," she said carefully. "You just have to take your time. You keep rushing around like you're Tyson or something."

He stood up, and locked his beyblade back into the launcher. "Again?"

She shook her head. "We're done for today. Though your perserverance is appreciated." She smiled at him. "Come on, ice cream. My treat."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Help me! Please!"

Riley laughed at her friend's stupidity. "Come on, Tyson, it's not that hard. Just ask her."

"I'm afraid."

"Chicken." Riley saw Kai's figure in the doorway, already passing through, from one doorway to another.

She smirked at him, once Tyson's teeny attention span had been diverted yet again. He rolled his eyes in response. Max nudged her.

"What was that about?"

"He's learning to tolerate me," She whispered back. "Don't tell anyone though." They giggled softly, gaining Tyson's attention.

"What the hell's so funny? She might kill me if I ask her."

"Kill who for what?"

Max, Kenny, and Ray gulped as Hilary and Daichi entered the room.

"Come on boys, let's get out of here." Tyson immediately got up off his bed, but Riley shoved him back down. "_You_ stay."

"I love you too, Riley."

"Yeah, yeah. Some one's gotta, since I highly doubt Kai's going to." The captain 'humphed,' from outside the doorway.

Riley had to admit, they put on quite the act when they had to, considering that he was still picking her up each day after school. This was pretty much a little game for them. Until later, when they became friends, and it became much more serious.

"Come on, Tyson, would you just spit it out? I doubt Hilary's going to bite you for asking a question."

"You don't know her very well," Max and Ray said, hanging their heads. The then lifted them and smirked at the crimson eyed girl. "But you know, she'll act all snotty, and then she'll come out here where he can't see her and flip out."

"Ahh, stubborn love."

"Now there's honesty."

Daichi then found it as the perfect time to open his big yap. "IS TYSON GONNA-"

"SSH!"

All people, except Kai, who was too cool, of course, jumped on top of the littler kid, so that the two people in Tyson's bedroom couldn't hear them. "God, this kid really needs less sugar."

"So does Max, but he's not twice as bad as Daichi," Kenny stated plainly.

"Hey!"

"What?"

A few moments later, Tyson came out, with a smirk that weirded out the group plastered across his face. "Well?"

Hilary paraded out of the room, and Riley made her way over to her, giving Kai a sideways glance that said all it had to. "Did you guys know Tyson was going to ask me to the Valentine's dance?"

Everyone nodded, and the young woman's face grew red. "THANKS FOR THE WARNING!" She screeched at them. Riley smiled at her.

"Come on, we need to set up a day to go dress shopping. God knows you're going to need to look your best."

"Why? It's only Tyson," She said simply.

"I'm hurt!" He yelled to their retreating figures.

"More like dumb love," Kai said, walking past Tyson and into his room.

xxxxxxxxx

His eyes scanned the vehicle before him. "Better than what you said you had over the phone. I'll actually ride in this piece of shit."

"This 'piece of shit' costs a lot more than you're worth at retail value."

He rolled his eyes. "Not really. So, any good tramps in this town?"

"Don't you have enough of them in Moscow?"

"No. Bryan's quite the ladies man, mostly because he doesn't say much and gets whatever he wants. You get annoyed too fast, otherwise girls would be throwing themselves at you, Kai. You just don't really have it."

His counterpart shifted quickly, giving his passenger a jolt. "Well now, Tal-y, I wouldn't go there."

"Don't call me that," he said defensively, "And I'm pretty sure that the only girl you talk to is Hilary, and she's got Tyson's name pretty much stamped on every disirable part of her body."

"Tala, has anyone ever told you? You're a whore."

"Thank you for noticing." He ran a hand through his red hair. "It's something I'm good at."

"Well God knows you can't beyblade."

Tala growled. "This is coming from the guy who's lost to Tyson two years in a row."

"This year's different," Kai pressed. Tala rolled his eyes.

"You said that last year too."

"If you weren't my friend, I'd shove your ass out of the car."

"If I wasn't enjoying pissing you off, I'd jump out."

A brief silence had come between them. Their banter would come and go like this, but it was never uncomfortable. Both had been there to see the other's trials and tribulations, and their bond was anything but weak.

Kai glared at Tyson and Max, who were sitting on the stoop leading into the dojo. "From here on out, if they kill you, I refuse to be held responsible."

"That runt's here, isn't he?"

"Daichi?" Kai checked the clock on his car's radio. "You have two hours."

The red headed Russian sighed. "If you wake up tomorrow, and can't find your scarf, I used it to hang the twerp."

Kai nodded. "Many a time the thought has crossed my mind. Perhaps someone will finally do it."

The two unloaded Tala's two duffel bags and started back to the dojo, depositing his things in Kai's room, which they would share for the week. Afterwards, Kai and his friend stalked silently into the kitchen, where Hiro sat with Riley, whom Tala didn't know about.

Kai went to open the fridge. "Don't you think about touching my soda, Sourpuss."

Tala stared at the young woman in awe. Her back had been to them the entire time. Kai shrugged and went for the can, opening it and taking a drink.

"Pass it," Tala said, in his usual monotone. He took a swig and handed it back to Kai, who wordlessly downed the rest of it and set the empty can next to her.

"Good thing to do to someone who controls your training," Riley said, flicking the aluminum can toward the sink. It landed in the hot soapy water that was already there.

Kai still shrugged.

Tala looked at her for a moment, and she then turned around to face them. "Holy shit, your trainer's albino- _and_ she's a girl!"

Within a nanosecond, his arms were pinned against his back rather forcefully, and he made a 'meep' in light of the sudden sharp pain that shot up his back. "The last person who called me albino-" she looked at Kai, "Didn't like the consequences."

Kai looked surprised. "Her eyes are red," he said simply. The two went out into the living room.

"Dude, she's got you brainwashed too? That girl has to be albino."

"Let's go," Riley said, leaning in the doorway. "You're Tala, right?"

"And you think you're some gang banging bitch?"

Hiro slipped in the doorway behind her. "Squirt, don't bother with this one, he's not worth it."

"Don't care," she muttered.

Tala smirked at the pet name Hiro used for the girl, whose name he didn't know. She was very attractive, and his plans to snag attractive girls were as follows.

Step one, piss them off.

Step two, dazzle them with beyblading skills and sudden charm.

Step three, well, that's nothing we need to cover.

"Riley, don't bother with Tala," Kai said, in a bored tone.

"You're just afraid that I'm going to dismantle his beyblade piece by piece." She tapped the side of her face with a finger. "Now why would I do that?"

"I've seen you do that."

Hiro looked mildly confused. This was getting back to the point where that infinite battle had occurred a few months ago. More and more, he began to believe that Kai had definitely had somekind of involvement, from his attempt at omegacide, to his sudden interest in bringing Riley home each day. He had to calm a lot of beybladers when that happened.

"_Like I said, Kai, she thinks she's some gang banging bitch_." He stated it in Russian, only to watch as Kai's scowl turned to that of an amused smirk.

"She can speak Russian," Kai stated plainly.

"_And I quit the gang._" Her eyebrows rose in a way that said to Tala that she had taken the bait.

"Well then, let's beybattle."

"That was a mistake," Hiro said, exasperatedly. Tala's ass was going down.

xxxxxxxxxx

A smirk found its way to her face. "Try again, loser."

_Attempt twenty three..._

"God damn it."

He relaunched his beyblade, and once again didn't make a dent in her spin. "Kai, what the hell is this? I thought he was some of the tougher competition."

"Dude, what the hell are you? Infinite or something?" Kai looked directly at Riley, who's eyes seemed to drill holes in Tala's. The expression was dull, as if to say, 'thank you, captain obvious.'

"I don't make a point of telling people, so if you'd keep your mouth shut..."

She withdrew her beyblade and walked up the step leading to the sliding door opposite the kitchen.

Tala beckoned Kai closer. "Did she just admit to being an infinite?"

"Yes."

"And you knew this?"

"Yes."

"Do the others-"

"Don't tell them."

Tala smirked at Kai. "She's training you, isn't she? To beat Tyson."

"No shit."

"Can you get me a date?"

A quick look of unrecognizable Kai emotion passed over him, before an impassive look took over. Tala noted it. It was one of few times he had seen that look in his life. Bryan had looked just like that when he had been asked by Spencer about Lana, his current girlfriend.

Tala blinked once or twice. "You know what, forget it." Tala smirked again. Kai had just sighed, unaware, out of relief.

Tala's eyes narrowed. It's going to be a fun week.

xxxxxxxxxx

The red head waited on the roof of the Dojo around two, when Kai said he would be back. He saw the sleek black lamborgini- he told Kai he wouldn't ride in the Cobalt SS, as it just wasn't good enough for him- pull up in front of the Dojo, and the doors open.

This surprised Tala. Who the hell did he pick up?

"You're doing better, all I'm saying is if Tala slips, I'll kick his ass and then yours." A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. Riley... and she was wearing the perfect, low cut shirt. He could see right down it.

"Why mine?" He picked up her bag from the back seat and carried it around the front of the car to her. She took it gratefully.

He waited for her response. "Because, you're the one who can't control your friends."

"He asked me to set you up with him."

"Never."

Kai slung an arm around her waist, in a rather un-Kai-like moment. "I know." She smiled up at him.

"For once, you seem to be in a good mood."

"You said I was doing better."

"You're going to have the entire world think we're dating."

"That's not entirely a bad thing."

"If Tyson and Hiro were to hear about any rumor remotely close, Phoenix-boy, they'd fucking kill you." From as close as she was to him, his hand resting on her hip, she could hear him gulp.

Tala resisted the urge to laugh. "Phoenix-boy?"

"Tala!" Riley called. "Quit spying on us from the roof. I'm not blind, I saw you."

"Damn it." Tala jumped down and entered the Dojo with them. "Where the hell did everyone go, and why the hell is your hand that close to her ass?"

Kai removed his hand from her and she shrugged as if to say she didn't care. "It doesn't mean anything Tala. Don't go getting jealous or anything because you know I'll never be turned on by you. There's plenty of tramps downtown." Tala began to turn a bit pinky. "You're such a whore. Seriously."

"I'll pick your ass up from the corner."

She rolled her eyes. "I assume you were listening in on my conversation with Kai, so let me rephrase. "If you decide to tell anyone about me, I will make sure you never have children."

His face twisted up into one of horror.

"Did I ever tell you how serious she can be?" Kai said, with his amused smirk still in place.

"If you guys get out of here in twenty minutes," Riley said, walking down the hall, "I'll say I never saw you. Either of you."

She shut the door to her room and that was the end of it.

"What the hell does that mean?" Tala asked.

"When the guys come home, she makes us practice. She's cutting me slack because she probably doesn't want to deal with you. Now let's go before we have to put up with the idiotic munchkin from hell."

"I really hate that kid."

"He's good with Tyson. I don't have to terrorize him that much anymore. I can just watch."

Both nodded. "What the hell is the deal with you two?"

"You weren't supposed to see that," Kai responded, suddenly serious.

"What? You acting like a normal human?" The amusement on Tala's face was beginning to tick Kai off.

"I didn't see you there."

"I figured, since you were all over her." Tala smiled cheekily. "Have you ever kissed the girl?"

"No, and I don't plan on it."

"You should, since you're still fucking prude and I can tell."

Kai shrugged, growing annoyed. "Whatever."

"Do I seriously need to put this in perspective for you?" Tala shook his head. Kai was a strong beyblader, and a reliable friend. Still, he seriously needed more involvement with the opposite sex.

"We need to get out of here before they come back." Kai started for the door, Tala following.

"I'll take that as a yes."

He waited for Kai to start the car up and speed off, before talking again.

"You like her, do you not?"

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You're obviously confused Kai, I'm not stupid." Kai went to say something back, but stopped.

"Yes, Tala, if I didn't like her, I wouldn't be spending most of my extra time training with her."

He shifted again, whipping around a corner. "I don't mean like that. I mean _like_, like."

"You sound like Hilary having a conversation with the girls she goes to school with."

"My God Kai, just loosen up. Nothing leaves this conversation." Tala looked at Kai for a moment to make sure he was paying attention. "Like before, with the dating comment."

Kai rolled his eyes. "It's just messing around, Tala."

"So you don't even feel, just a little, like it would be a good thing?"

"I don't know."

"Then tell me this. Do you ever think about her in ways you shouldn't?"

"I'm not like you, Tala, I don't imagine every attractive woman I've ever seen in nothing underneath me as you do."

"And you've never seen her come out of the shower dripping and ever think about how amazing she looks with her hair like that and the water everywhere?"

"Have you been reading romance novels again? I thought Bryan burned them."

Tala shook his head. "It's the God damned soap operas. They're addicting, I swear."

Kai smiled at that. Poor Tala, the romance whore. He took the scenic route outside the city and into the mountainside.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere where we don't have to go the speed limit."

"Why don't we just wait until about one am and go street racing?"

"I don't feel like waiting."

"Seriously, back to the main topic of dicussion Kai, you've never even thought about what it would be like to have a girl like that? She's strong, she's sexy, she's a bitch, she's completely your type."

"And I've almost killed her."

"And that makes her even more your type." Tala deadpanned. "Come on, doesn't something about her catch your interest? Her smile, her laugh..."

"That."

"You like her laugh."

"Kind of." Tala smirked.

"You like making her laugh, don't you?" Kai looked at him, as if to say yes without actually admitting it. "You've got it then."

"How does me liking to make her laugh make me like her?"

"I can just tell. Have you taken her to lunch ever, when you picked her up?"

"No, occasionally ice cream," he said, in his own defense.

"Does she thank you?"

"How?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "By saying it."

"Does she have any secrets that you know that the others don't know?"

"Her infinite secret, and a few others, why?"

"She trusts you, doesn't she?"

"I think so."

"I'm going to ask her."

"Don't," Kai responded, rather quickly.

"Nervous?"

"No."

"I bet you couldn't even say 'Happy Valentine's Day' to her."

"I could, I don't choose to though," Kai responded.

"It's tomorrow," Tala said, thoughtfully. "I'll tell you what: I bet you that you couldn't kiss her, and I mean actually kiss her, before the day is over."

"I could," Kai pressed, "But as I've said before, I choose not to."

"And like you wouldn't like to know what it would be like to kiss someone." He sent Kai a sideways glance. "Who are you kidding?"

Kai grumbled something Tala could barely decipher.

It sounded like, "Apparently no one."

xxxxxxxxxx

Valentine's Day was quite a day for the odd group. Out of general compassion- and a promise from both Tyson and Hilary to tell her everything that happened, Riley had cancelled practice for the group. She had even decided to cancel her little 'session' with Kai, to help Hilary get ready for the dance. She had decided to treat the girl to lunch using a fake note to get the girl out of class.

"So, I have a question," Hilary said, between sips of her pepsi.

"Yeah?" Riley asked, her crimson eyes meeting her friend's ruby ones.

Hilary took a deep breath. "I heard Hiro say to Grandpa that Kai's been taking you home everyday since that one time you blew us off. Do you like him?"

"Excuse me?"

"Come on, I just want to know if you like Kai or not, he's never actually joked around with a girl before, and I heard about the soda incident with Tala."

Her eyes narrowed. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Just that Kai drank your soda on purpose."

"Oh."

"Is there more to that?"

"No, but Tala's been giving me these looks, and I know he was a bit jealous before because I wanted nothing to do with him. He thought he was going to win me over."

"That's a good one," Hilary said, with a laugh. Riley nodded.

"I will admit that Kai is definitely not bad to look at."

"Hell, I think any woman would admit that."

They both began laughing again. "He's been nicer to me, though," Riley said, thinking. "Especially when we're alone."

Hilary nearly choked on the air she was breathing.

"When are you two alone?"

Riley stopped, any more slip ups and she'd have an angry Hilary on her hands. "Like when he's driving me home. He insists that it's on his way, and I think he's a liar. We always pass his school on the way back."

"Do you think that he might like you?"

"Hah." Both girls shook their heads. "Like Kai would show interest in a girl, come on. It's not like he's gay, but seriously, a girl would take up a little too much time in his book."

Hilary laughed with her. "Yeah, good point."

Riley's mind was sent into overdrive. Right back at ya sister, she thought.

"So, you ready for tonight?" Hilary turned a bit pale. "I don't know what I'm going to do if he doesn't like the dress."

"I'm sure someone, probably one of your friends will pay him to lie through his teeth if he doesn't." When Hilary looked just about depressed enough, Riley smiled at her. "I'm sure he'll love it, I asked him about color choices before he even asked you to the dance."

Hilary sighed. "Riley, you're my hero."

"I've got to be someone's."

xxxxxxxxxx

Once the group, save the older members, Kai, Tala, Riley, Hiro, and Grandpa, had left, things generally relaxed around the dojo. Riley had resolved to playing video games with Hiro, who was losing badly. She was good. She'd always been good.

"I hate you, Riley."

"Hate is close to love, Happy Valentine's Day," She chimed back. He laughed at her.

"It's good to have you here Rylily," Grandpa said from behind her. "We need a little more female influence around this joint."

Riley nodded and paused the game. "Hilary only goes so far, I know what you mean."

"Well yeah."

"How are the boys coming on their beyblading?" Hiro asked. "I haven't seen one of their training sessions in a while."

Riley smiled at him. "They've all improved considerably, even 'Mr. I am the Champ of the free world.'" They laughed. "Honestly, I think Tyson's going to definitely have to step up his game this year, and I'm not just talking about against the other teams."

"Kai, right?"

"I think he's going to win, he's got the heart."

"And my T-dawg doesn't?" Grandpa's fist was shaking a bit. Riley had to be careful, Grandpa could be a bit scary at times when Tyson's skills were being questioned. Hiro nodded thoughtfully.

"You've been pushing him a lot harder than the others."

"He needs it," She responded. "Tyson will respond with his whining and do better. You have to push Kai twice as hard or the results definitely lack substance."

Tyson's grandfather looked at her quizzically. "I hope T-Dawg realizes that before the finals start."

"I can't tell him, either. I was thinking about letting them go against each other, for fun, I haven't done that since Kai nearly killed the lot of us, but I think it's time we try it again."

"I'll bet that the little dude will win," Grandpa said to her, determination flooding his features.

"I wouldn't bet anything. I have a lot of confidence in Kai. The tides might be turning."

"It's not going to be easy for either of them, with the infinites and all," Hiro said, carefully. "I think they need to work on making it to the finals first."

"I second that."

xxxxxxxxxx

She raised her arms over her head, launcher gripped tightly in her hands, her left crossed over her right. Her right palm was up, holding the base of the launcher upside down, while her left gripped the rip cord. she brought it down in a clockwise rotation, then flipped her hands, and sent the rip cord flying back with her left hand, which was now palm up, but wrapped around the cord. She then laid her left arm straight out, her palm flipped down again, as if to call an attack. It was an elegant maneuver, one she didn't usually use in front of the boys. An infinite had an intricate launch, one that balanced them.

"Let it rip!"

Another beyblade joined her black one, sending it sideways a bit. She laughed.

"Come out Kai," She called.

She heard him snicker a bit and the bushes behind her move a bit. He recalled his beyblade and placed both hands on her shoulders. It wasn't dark yet, but it was getting pretty hard to see. Once the moon was visible, they'd be much better off.

"You should keep your guard up more on your launch," He said, in a teacher-like tone. She pressed a hand against his rock hard stomach and shoved him back.

"You should learn not to sneak up on people like that. You're lucky I knew it was you."

"Well who else would ambush you on Valentine's Day?"

"Well..."

"Don't answer that then." She smiled at him and beconed for him to join her.

"You want to train, don't you?"

He nodded. "I need my daily fix."

"I know just what you mean." She thought for a moment on what to do with him. "Let's take it kinda easy today. We'll work out the kinks in the orb in a few days. We've been working on it for the past week anyway. Variety wins today. Show me your launch."

"You see it all the time," He retorted.

"Just do it."

"Yeah, yeah." He held his launcher up over his head and brought it down directly in front of him, yanking on the rip cord and launching Dranzer in a flurry of sparks.

She nodded, and recalled her beyblade, repeating the crescent moon shaped launch that she had previously used. He noted that Taidra flew to the ground with much more grace and speed than he had seen before. "Want to learn how to that?"

He nodded dumbly. Who would say no to learning how to launch like that? It was like a talent in itself.

She approached him and took his launcher from him, and handed him hers. It was lighter, and made of something different. "You'll have to use mine, okay?"

"Yeah." The rip cord was longer than what he was used to, but it seemed like it would come pretty much naturally once he got started.

"You're a lefty, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good, this won't be too weird then." Riley held out her hands, crossed over, her left one on top of her right. He copied her as she went through the motion. He tried it a few times, with depressing results. "It's a little awkward, at first," she told him, gently. "Here," she said, handing him Taidra, and taking out her bit chip, replacing it with Dranzer's. "Just for now, we'll make you a different beyblade later. The second you get it right, it'll be much faster than you anticipate. Trust me, I shattered my blade the first time I launched like this. And that was experimental. This one's got a diamond core, it isn't going to get messed up too easy."

She got behind him, as he locked the beyblade into place and got back into position. "I can't seem to get it steady enough-" She placed her hands over his.

"Try it now," she said, gripping his hands tightly, guiding him through the motions again a few times. "Better?"

"Much," he said, a bit more relaxed. He couldn't believe she was so close to him. No one had ever gotten this close to him before. Both literally and not.

"For some reason, when you do it, it seems to make you a bit more aware of everything. Like an unknown advantage." Her words were merely a whisper in his ear, accompanied by her warm breath in the February night. "What do you feel?"

He said nothing, taking in a few calm, concentrated breaths.

"Don't feel stupid about telling me, just say it."

"You," he said, his voice about as soft as hers.

She smiled as he tilted his head to the side to see hers. "That's what you're supposed to feel." She tightened her grip on him again. "Ready?"

"Yeah." He raised the blade over his head and went through the motions with exact precision, ripping the rip cord out of its place at the exact moment and watching the beyblade go flying faster than ever before. She released his hands and stood next to him.

She nodded. "Now that, my friend, is a launch."

Kai recalled the beyblade, which shot back at him with a burst of energy. "Wow," he said, breathlessly.

"Yeah." She smirked at him sideways. "Again?"

He was about to do it when he noted that she was asking, not commanding. "Yes."

She nodded in approval. "Go for it."

_**x x x**_

"Can I ask a question?"

"No." She rolled her eyes and tilted her head in his direction. "Of course, Kai, since you ask _so_ many questions."

He shrugged in response. "Why did you teach me your launch?"

"We're more alike than you think." She pulled out her bit, and squeezed it tightly in the palm of her hand. "If you come to me, and catch me off guard-" She looked at him with a smirk, "I think you're ready for something new."

"I haven't even mastered Omegacide-"

"You need to stop worrying about that. You'll learn it, but we have to take it a step at a time." She paused, thinking. "You have the oath down perfectly, and the orb part is getting better. We'll put it together soon, but that will have to wait for a time when I can get you away from the group for a few hours. You'll pass out a few times, I'm sure."

"I can't wait." She slung an arm around his shoulders.

"Did you mean what you said before?" He realized that he had kind of blurted it out, but he couldn't wait another moment without asking.

"What do you mean?" Her eyes were on him, and she waited for him to answer.

"What you said to Tyson's grandfather and Hiro."

"About you?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he said, quietly.

"I have faith in you." Wordlessly, he leaned across the sidewalk and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"I told Tala."

"About this?"

"Yeah."

"Is he jealous?"

"He bet me that I wouldn't have the guts to kiss you by the end of tonight."

"The whore just wants someone to get some action." They both laughed at it. After all, it was Tala, and it was true. At this point, Kai didn't really, nor had he ever cared about Tala's dare. After all, he was Kai Hiwatari, and he'd do as _he_ pleased, not as anyone else wished.

They continued the rest of the way in silence. Kai slid open the door and they noted that there were no shoes anywhere, so no one was home except the two older Grangers, and possibly Tala, if he wasn't out clubbing.

She heard a scowl from the kitchen and the sound of footsteps drawing nearer. "Asshole, is that you?"

"Kai," Riley called, just barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Hn?"

She turned around toward him and smiled lazily. She reached a hand up and stroked the side of his face. "As your captain, I should make it my job to make sure that you have experience in all areas..." She trailed off, and kissed him on the lips, slow and tenderly, and he immediately tilted his head back to allow her entrance into his mouth. He kissed her right back, becoming more rough, but tender all the same. She followed his arms down to his hands and they became intertwined. A moment later, she broke it, pressing a simple kiss to his right temple. She whispered the next thing she said into his ear. "Tell Tala whatever you want. I'm cool with it."

With that, she turned away from him, to see Tala gawking from the doorway. "And I'm the whore?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, you still are." She gave them both a final glance. "Happy Valentine's Day, boys."

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_This is the second time I've written this chapter, and this way was much, much better than the first. And it's longer! Tell me what you think in a review, I promise I won't bite!_

_x3 Distant Storm_


	8. Standard Disclaimers Apply

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I only own my OCs, and the plot line.

Summary:The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Seven: Standard Disclaimers Apply

Distant Storm

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Kai stood, leaning against the car. February had become March and March had indeed come in like a lion and out like a lamb. April was here, with cool days of sun and clouds, and the rains that never seemed to end. He was waiting for Riley, as she had said something about meeting him at Mr. Dickenson's building, the B.B.A. headquarters.

His mind began to wander back to February, and the amazing kiss that had been his first. He had never met a girl who could kiss like that, then claim it as her first kiss, and _then_ tell him that she wasn't embarrassed about it and he shouldn't be either. She had said that it was cool with her, she didn't mind, and that all that did matter was that Tala had been flabbergasted.

Kai smirked. He had been like a fish out of water.

"Hey, quit staring off into space, would ya? You're freaking me out!"

"Hi, Riley." He turned his attention to the brunette, who was clad in jeans and a warm hoodie. It was pretty cold today.

"Hola."

"What language don't you speak?"

"There's plenty of them."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere where I can get coffee. I'm cold."

"You've got it."

He started the car and they jetted away, not even noticing the Chairman, who was standing just inside the doors watching, interested in the matters of the two teens. He hadn't been aware that Kai gave out rides in his car, especially this one, which was beyond expensive.

"So, guess what I got from Mr. Dickenson?"

He looked at her curiously. "What?"

"This." She held out a paper, and it had Mr. Dickenson's and the B.B.A. seal on top of it. It was a series of lists. Kai peered at it for a moment before realizing the topic of these lists. They were names.

"What is this?"

"Every competitor for the tournament registered."

"How many of them are infinites?"

"We'll count later, I haven't gone through the lists. That's why I'm going to need coffee. This will take a while."

"And you aren't going to tell the guys?"

"Oh, I will, but when Dickenson gives out the speech telling all of the the lo-down on the dates for the tournament. That'll be in a week or so." She reached for the dial to turn up the heat, but he slapped her hand away.

"When you have a car, you can control the settings."

"But I'm cooooold." He shrugged. "Now's the part where you tell me-"

"Deal with it."

She pulled her hands into the sleeves of her hoodie and pulled the hood over her head, so she looked almost like a red eyed penguin in the black hooded sweatshirt. He couldn't resist a smirk at her attire, she looked pretty much hysterical.

"Please?"

He shook his head, and turned at the light, pulling up in front of the most expensive coffee place in the city. "You're lucky I'm even taking you in this place. The paparazzi will be everywhere."

"You aren't Dickenson's sort-of-daughter, you have nothing to worry about."

"I'm here with a girl," He paused. "They'll think it's a date."

"And I'm your coach, so they can deal with it." She smirked. "It's not like we're repeating the V-Day incident."

He laughed almost nervously, one of his newest word associations, but quickly shut up as she opened the door to the café. "Welcome to- Oh, it's people who I already know. Good. I'll finally get some tips!"

"You wish, Nina."

"Hello to you too, Riley," The blonde said, rolling her eyes. "How can I poison- I mean serve you today?"

"Make sure that if you kill her, you don't kill me. I'm a victim."

Riley shoved Kai with her elbow. "He's all afraid that the place is going to get swarmed with the press and all, and they're going to accuse us of being on a date, since we're everywhere together."

"God," Nina said, grabbing two large cups from behind her back and bringing them out in front of her. "No one comes in here, don't worry about it. Do you want sugar, cream, what?"

"Two sugars, double cream," Kai responded, in a monotone.

Riley looked up at her friend. "Same as him, but I want a double shot of hazelnut cream instead."

"Good choice," Nina said, walking away to go get the drinks ready. The place was deserted, and they moved to a booth looking out at the dreary skies. It was starting to get dark despite how early it was, as the clocks had yet to be adjusted to accomodate they daylight hours.

The brunette drew out the papers and spread them around the table. She then pulled a highlighter out of her purse and began running it over certain teams, names, and organizations listed under the titles. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us," she said carefully. "It's going to be a tough year."

"We'll win," Kai affirmed. "Aren't you the firm believer in faith?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but more than half the competitors are infinites. She had slid in next to him, on the outside of the booth. "See this guy here?" She pointed to the name _Hujika, Rafael._ Kai nodded. "The last time I saw him, he was about six foot eight, and had a beyblade with such sharp edges, it could slice the average beyblade in half. That's why we use diamond alloys in our beyblades. Only diamond can cut diamond, but blades like ours," she paused as he drew out Dranzer's newly improved beyblade, which had been kept a secret, to everyone except for the two of them, "Are made out of this alloy that was newly discovered. The diamondback alloys are the hardest alloys in existance right now. Harder than pure diamond."

"You use them because of this guy?"

"He's one of the five original infinity members."

"Who are the others?"

Riley scanned the list. "Amanda, of course, she isn't entering, but she's sending minions, that's why some of these bladers are marked with an 'I' next to their names. It's just to distinguish blader gangs and ranks. Other than that, the others of the first five are Wesley Adrow, he's on the list somewhere, he's entering with the infinity members like Rafael, and then there's Rachel Cadlona. Razz, we called her. She was a punker chick, but being as brilliant as she was, she got involved with one of the rival gangs, ended up a heroin addict, and died of an overdose."

"Oh."

"Yeah." She flipped through the list. "I'll have to do some major briefing, and of course, they guys are going to need some hardcore updates like yours, though I don't trust them with the diamondback alloys just yet." She looked over at him. "Speaking of which, are you still using the Mag-core?"

"Yeah."

Riley took Dranzer from his hands. "I thought so." She wordlessly took the beyblade apart, scattering parts on top of the table until she reached the core of the beyblade.

"She's been a bit off center lately." Riley knew he was referring to Dranzer, and nodded as he said it.

"I'd figure as much. She needs a new core, nothing too big to worry about. This one will be much easier to control too." She pulled the completely clear core from her hoodie pocket. "See this baby?" He nodded. "It's pure diamondback alloy. Infinity members are the only ones who know about this core type. You're lucky I got this one."

"How much did it cost?"

"If you have to ask, you can't afford it."

"Dickenson paid for it, huh?"

"Yeah, I told him it was for me."

"Liar."

"They aren't illegal in battle, so don't ask questions and don't tell anyone just yet."

"Two coffees, coming up," Nina said, ducking under the counter and ending up on the other side, where the seating area was. "You know, you two sit any closer, and one would think you were on a date."

"Oh shut it," Riley said. "How'd you like it if I dumped this cup of coffee over your head?"

"You're too short to, sweetheart." Nina responded, with a smirk.

"She's got a point."

Riley huffed. "You know, I don't have to pay for this."

"Fine." Kai pulled out a twenty. "Keep the change."

Nina stared at the bill. "If you weren't so god damned rich, Whitney Boy, I'd so totally give you the change. But you are, so I'll take it. " She bowed. "Thank you, and don't hesitate to come again."

"You didn't have to do that," Riley said, once Nina had walked away. "Her ass is probably just as rich as you, you know."

"I blame you."

"Why?"

"Because Tala's right. You're making me human."

"Aww," Riley said, giving him a cute little face. "The human glacier is melting."

"By the way," Kai said, becoming thoughtful. "You wouldn't happen to be the fifth original Infinity member, now would you?"

She leaned over a bit, so that she was resting partially on his shoulder and the back of the booth. "Now where would you get an idea like that?"

"I've seen you battle."

"I'm the traitor of the group," She said, with a shrug.

"I prefer to see it as free spirited." He took the lists from her and began counting everything that had been highlighted. "How many infinites?"

"Seventy-six or so out of a hundred."

He counted personally, taking his time. "I count seventy five, Riley." After a moment, the obvious hit him. She was counting-

"You're selling yourself short again."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Shut up guys, it's coming on!"

The entire group was crowded into Tyson's living room, Max, Tyson, Hilary, and Daichi on the couch, Kenny sitting on one of its arms, and Ray and Hiro sitting beneath them on the floor. Riley stood in the doorway to the left side, while Kai was on the right, both leaning up against the door frame casually. Both knew generally what to expect, and from this point of view, no one could see them, should she decide to tell him something. The group knew by now that Kai and Riley pretty much got along, but no one needed to know that he regarded her as a f-word. Every swear in every language could be used previously, but the f-word(which is 6 letters long, in case you didn know) coming out of Kai's mouth would be beyond shocking.

"_In other news, tonight was the night of the B.B.A. press conference with founder, Mr. Stanley A. Dickenson. Here is the broadcast live, on channel 11 news at nine._"

The screen immediately went black, then flickered to show the press conference, live.

_"To all competitors, this year's competition will begin in the third week of June, well after school ends for most of you. Tonight, I bear news about the championships location, and the types of competitors you may find. The semi finals will occur in Barcelona, Spain; then the semi finals will occur in Ottawa." The chairman cleared his throat. "The finals will be held, by popular demand, in Seattle, Washington."_

Kai shot Riley a look and she smiled at him, though it appeared to turn into a smirk. Hiro took a second to look back at Riley. For someone who said there was nothing left for her in Seattle, why was she so happy about the finals being held there?

"_Also," Dickenson began, clearing his throat. "I will continue with the standard disclaimers, which you should all have come to expect by now. This year's competition will surpass all others before it. We have opened our doors to the newest level of competitors, the Infinite Class-"_

Tyson jumped up off the couch, narrowly avoiding Ray's hand. "What? He can't do that!"

"Why? Afraid you'll lose?" He turned around and stuck a tongue out at Riley, who shrugged and narrowed her eyes upon him.

"You aren't even fighting."

"Ahh well. How can you expect to beat them when you probably couldn't even beat Kai?"

"I can beat Kai with my eyes shut."

Riley looked over to Kai. "We'll prove your theory once this is done and over with. So shut up and pay attention." Tyson turned his attention back to the tv screen and Riley caught Kai's smirk. She wordlessly reached over and squeezed his hand. She couldn't hardly say anything, but that would be good enough. For now, at least.

About twenty minutes or so later, after Mr. Dickenson had explained just about everything that could possibly be explained, Riley disappeared to the back room of the Dojo, leaving her trainees with quite a bit of questions.

She reappeared, her hair pulled back as though she was about to start training. Kai smirked.

That was exactly what she intended to do.

"All of you, get your beyblades, and get your asses outside."

"Riley! It's cold, and it's a school night!"

"You're late whether or not you go to bed early or not." She sighed and Hilary dragged Tyson up off the couch. "Thanks, Hil. The rest of you, move. We've got some training to do, and I believe Kai and Tyson need to have a battle, correct?"

Tyson immediately perked up. "A night battle to kick Kai's ass? Alright, let's go."

Kai looked hesitantly to Riley, as if asking a question. She walked past him, not bothering to even answer.

The gang all piled into the back grounds, which were pretty wet with the early spring rain. There was a flood light turned on, just bright enough for Kai and Tyson to have their battle.

"Are we using bit beasts?"

"Whatever you feel you need to win. Just watch the Dojo. I don't need anyone killing me for this."

Tyson pulled out Dragoon and his launcher. "Well, don't freak out Kai, I'll lower myself a bit so I'm at your level."

Kai shrugged and drew out Dranzer and his typical, non-diamandback beyblade. Riley quirked an eyebrow. "Kai, come here for a second."

"What?" Kai stepped away from the dish, a scowl set on his face. "Yeah?" he asked, growing annoyed. The glimmer in his eyes stated he was acting, and Riley pulled out his newer version beyblade.

"You're in charge."

"What?"

"Stop asking questions and start training these boys." She took a deep breath and focused entirely on him. "You're the captain, and I'm not going to be here forever, so teach them a lesson or two." She noted his facade slip during the middle of the conversation, but ignored it. No one else had noticed.

"And just what are we going to do?" Daichi asked, unimpressed. Compared to Riley, Kai was a pushover in his oppinion.

Kai looked at Riley, then smirked at them all. "Tyson, go get the pop cans."

She laughed, and walked back into the Dojo, watching secretly out the window. After all, she thought, he had to start teaching them sometime.

xxxxxxxxxx

It was well past midnight when a knock came to Riley's door.The young woman had been laying in her bed with the stereo on low, streaming alternative music through the room. "It's open," she called, figuring by the rhythm it had been Kai.

She was right, as the teenage boy had sauntered into the darkened room, the only light provided by the hazy bluish moon. "Hey," he said, his voice barely a whisper.

"What's up?" she asked, still pretty much awake. She moved over so he had a place to sit on her bed, which he took up.

"Couldn't sleep," he responded patiently.

"I'm sure you have a reason, so spill."

"What did you mean before?" Riley immediately knew what he meant.

"Afraid you might lose me?"

"No."

She nodded knowingly. He had responded just a little too fast. "I can't stay here forever."

"Are we just another team to you?"

She looked at him again, surprised this time. He was being a bit demanding... well, almost. Though, she figured he had a reason. She had learned that one thing he hated was having to separate himself from people. He might be a free spirit, but he hated ending things or losing them. Finalities were never his strong point. She had also learned that it had been one of his few insecurities. Losing people. He'd lost too many already, and he'd never let anyone in if they were going to leave when all was supposedly said and done.

"Hell no." She looked at him with a sincere, yet sad smile. "I love coaching you guys. Seriously." She placed a hand over his and stroked it with her thumb.

"What about-"

"Kai, calm down. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. When I leave, you'll be ready." She leaned forward and hugged him tightly. Hesitantly, he returned the gesture. She traced the side of his face with her thumb and index finger. "I promise, okay?"

"Yeah." She leaned up higher and pressed an innocent kiss to his forehead. "Get some sleep, kay?"

He nodded, and got up to walk out the door. Placing a hand against the trimmed doorframe he turned around and faced her. "Thanks Ry."

She smiled. "Anytime."

With that, she watched as he left the room. Yeah, he was definitely melting something aweful if he was having late night insecurities. But was it her fault?

She shrugged it off. "Nah."

A moment later, another thought hit her.

"Since when does he call me 'Ry?'"

xxxxxxxxxx

Over the next few weeks, Riley had introduced the rest of the boys to the diamondback beyblades, and Kai's training had doubled in intensity to the point where she once had to drive his ass home for fear of him passing out while driving.(He hadn't like the part where she drove his car. It wasn't good.) She refused to give him any satisfaction, though he generally ran practice until it came time for beating the infinites part, where she'd fight like they would, and hope to God no one assumed her to be an infinite until after they'd become the champions.

However, on this especially warm day in early May, Riley had a specific place to be. Nina's house. The blonde was throwing a little party for all of the people who were in their final year of high school at Bakuten Central. It was a beautifully warm day, hot even, and everyone was just dying to get into the pool once the party began.

"Everything's all set up," Nina called to the brunette, who sat on a barstool in the kitchen. "And my rents are gone."

"Your rents are always gone, they're lawyers, dipshit."

"Shut up," Nina said, shoving the girl over. "When are people going to start showing up?"

"Soon, I told everyone that the party started at one, and it's twelve thirty now. We've got plenty of time to do anything else necessary." Nina nodded.

"You know what that means, don't you?" She looked at Riley with a deadly smile. "We have enough time to set up the speaker system."

"Good, I thought we'd be cursed with that damned karaoke machine again." Riley took a sip of the pop that was next to her. "You know, the last time I saw that thing, I thought your neighbor was going to come and kill us for using it."

Nina's eyes got a bit of a faraway appeal to them. "Nah, he's cool, actually, he goes to that prep school your boyfriend goes to."

"Kai isn't my boyfriend, Nina, for the upteenth time," She stated, growing annoyed.

"You say that now, but I doubt you believe it." Riley rolled her eyes. "Seriously, I should've invited him."

The brunette took another swing of the Dr. Pepper next to her as well as a deep breath. "Like Kai'd ever come to a party. Give me a break. He's just barely counting me as a friend, the last thing I need is something to screw it up."

"Do you not see the way he looks at you?"

"Do you not see that the conversation is closed?" Riley sighed. "We've been over this. There is no way in hell that he'd want anything other than a friendship with me, despite what I may or may not want as well."

"Aha! So you admit it!"

"Nina," Riley said blandly, looking at her rich friend, "He's the hottest world champ I've seen, I mean unless they have a hidden team mate I've never met."

"But you like his personality too. And you kissed him." Nina quirked an eyebrow suggestively.

"So? Do we really need to get into this now?"

"No, but some other time, we just might."

Shaking her head, the brunette walked away, cursing the fact that Nina knew her just a little too well. She had agreed, in her own perfectly sane and stable state of mind, that she just might feel a little something for the slate haired captain. That wasn't a crime, and he always came to her when he was unsure of himself or something else. It was just how their relationship had progressed. He pretty much beared his entire soul to her and she did the same. Sometimes it still amazed her that Kai had even given her the time of day, much less told her just about everything in her life. But the sense of awe was starting to fade, since this was her Kai, not anyone else's. No one else saw this side of him, occasionally Nina would catch a glimpse of it, but no one saw the real Kai Hiwatari that she was privy to. And she liked it that way. She liked being the one to see him without the facade.

"Hey!" Nina's voice pierced her thoughts, and she looked around, finding the girl back behind her, near the entrance to the house. "People are here, bitch, come on, you're part hostess of this event!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

"Quit daydreaming about Kai!"

"It would be great if I was because then I wouldn't have to listen to you!" She screamed back.

"Bitch."

"Whore."

"Tramp."

"I love you too."

"That's why I pick you up on the corner every night," Nina said, with a lively smile, as some of their friends walked into the mansion that Nina occupied, with her parents who were almost never there. They were cool, according to Riley, since they were always up for a good party, and the last time she spent some time with all three of them, she had gotten a bit of tolerance thanks to the shots that her father had dared her to do.

"Yeah, yeah." Riley shrugged and met up with her other friends, asking them about drinks and music preference.

xxxxxxxxxx

Kai flew into the mansion that Yukito shared with his family. "What the hell is so damn important, Yukito, that I had to risk a high speed chase with the cops?"

About three other boys, all clad in the green Whitney Prep School uniforms took the stairs leading down at a run, while Yukito childishly used the banister. "Dude," Yukito said, with a smirk, "There's a party next door. We're so spying."

"No offense, but it was senior skip day at Bakuten Central, I figured someone would have a party," Kai pointed out blandly.

"Yeah, but my neighbors are having a party, and it's in full swing. Thankfully they gave us a half day, otherwise I so would've skipped. They've got all the hot girls there, and I'm just waiting for one of them to strip into a bakini. Come on, my windows are the best place to spy, they're close to the other house, we'll get a good view of the proceedings."

"Why don't I make popcorn then?" Kai said, in annoyance. He thought the kid had been dying, with how rushed his phone call had been. Now he realized that Yukito was just a hormone induced eighteen year old. Yukito shrugged and the four boys now followed him up his staircase, and into his room.

As a teenage boy himself, Kai had to admit, the view was perfect. He could see everything going on in his neighbor's backyard, including the pool usage, the girls playing horseshoes, volleyball, basketball, Yukito's neighbor must have been rich. He noted the bar, and the whords of kids, both male and female sporting fruity and no doubt alchoholic beverages. After all, it was a party, and eighteen year olds had to have a bit of fun too.

"Yukito, open the window a crack so we can hear what's going on."

The boy nodded, wordlessly opening a window. Suddenly, music, voices, water spashing, and cheering poured in through the crack in the window. Not to mention the steamy unairconditioned air of May, which was both pleasing and annoying at the same time. It was going to be a hot summer.

Kai turned his attention back to the people at the party. There was a group of people dancing near the huge speaker system that had been set up, and he recognized one of them. Nina? His mind seemed to ask him. It had to be her, she was one of Riley's friends that he knew, and she was acting like he had learned her to be. Playful and entirely entertaining.

His mind then registered something else. Riley had said she'd be with Nina all day, since she was skipping with the rest of the senior class. "No way."

"What?"

"My coach is at that party."

Yukito's jaw dropped. "What?"

"She's got to be."

"How do you know?"

"Because, that blonde down there dancing with like half the guys there is her best friend."

"You mean Nina?" Yukito asked, surprised.

"Yeah, why?"

"She's my neighbor."

Kai's eyes widened a bit in surprise, but he turned his attention back to the party, searching for the young woman who typically coached him, and was his best friend. He found her, in the mass of people who had suddenly decided to dance. He could hear the song playing on full blast.

So far, no one had noticed they were there. That meant they were safe. For now at least.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Hey, Riley," Nina said, dancing her way through the crowd to reach her friend, "Is that your boyfriend up there with my neighbor?" She threw her head in the direction of the white house next door, as well as the figures that could be seen in the window.

"Is your neighbor Yukito?" Nina nodded. "Yeah, that would be my- Hey! He's not my boyfriend!"

"You wish."

"I'd have to be drunk before I'll admit anything."

"That can be arranged."

Riley rolled her eyes, and kept dancing. She spotted the captain of the football team, the typical jock who was just about the most attractive kid in school. He had come up behind her, placing his hands on her hips, and she had no protests, though she turned and grabbed a nother look at the group that was staring at her from the window of the house whom she learned belonged to Yukito.

She caught Kai's attention, or at least she thought she had, and began to mouth along with the words. It was an English song, one of her favorites, Jesse McCartney's "Right Where You Want Me."

"_Baby, take me on a journey, I've been thinking lately, I could use a little time alone with you. Crazy, let's do something maybe, please don't take your time, you've got me right where you want me."_

She noted his expression change to one of disbelief and almost amusement. She was always good with rhythm, tilting her hips in the right direction, dipping them and moving with fluidity, as if to seem like a whore who could dance. It was one of her specialties, as well as Nina's, which she was going all out tramp on some of those boys, but it was all for the sake of fun. She turned her attention back to the jock sandwhich she was now in and snuck another glance to Kai. Was that... jealousy on his face? There was only one thing she could think of: Now how cool was this? Two jocks and a world champion!

About a minute later, when the song had started into the bridge, she looked back up to Kai and motioned with her hand for them to come and join her. She saw Yukito stare at her, his mouth dropped. She figured that from their altitude the could probably either see the tiny bakini hidden under her black shirt, or Nina, who had stolen one of the guys from her.

They were conversing quickly, until finally she saw Kai give up, with a sigh and then Yukito flashed her a thumbs up.

The song had ended by this time, and she saw Nina talking to some of her friends. The girl was all over the place.

And apparently so was she, because both she and Nina had suddenly been uprooted from the ground by about five of their girlfriends and thrown into the pool.

"Bitch!" Nina yelled, pulling herself out. Riley surged up to the surface.

"Be grateful we were wearing out bathing suits."

"What is this, a wet t-shirt contest?"

"Very funny, Reed," Nina called sweetly. "Get your perverted thoughts away from me."

"They're all about you," He joked back.

Riley laughed, and Nina splashed her with her foot, which was haphazardly skimming the surface of the pool.

"Oh, by the way, you're about to have five boys or so at your door who were spying on you from next door."

"What?"

"Well I figured that if they were going to spy, they might as well be in on the action."

"That's the best thing you've done all day!" Nina squealed, in excitement. She then connected the lines of thought. "Is Kai-"

"I think so. He saw me, and I did my whole tramp thing, just for you."

"So that's what you were doing with the captain of the football team," Nina proposed.

Riley nodded. "Now come on, just in case they decided to go to the front door. They're gentlemen you know."

"Yeah, yeah." Nina rushed to the door with a quick burst of energy, grabbing a towel as she went, Riley, who wasn't so lucky stayed behind in the tiled kitchen to strip off her soaked clothes so she was in her bakini. Both had heard the doorbell as they entered through the back door of the kitchen. The blonde opened the large front door enthusiastically. "It's about time you guys showed up."

"Hey Nina," Yukito said, with a smirk. "How are you?"

"Good," She gave Kai a quick wink and turned her attention to the three other boys whom she didn't know. "Introduce me, but hold on one second." She turned around. "Riley, did you strip yet?"

"You make me sound like a hooker, and yes I did."

"Come here then."

"Yeah yeah." The boys had stepped into the foyer of the large mansion, waiting for the girl called Riley, whom Kai knew, and the others were interested in. The brunette stepped around Nina as she came up behind her. "Hey guys," she said, with a smile. Her crimson eyes were magnified by the black bakini, consisting of boyshorts and a halter tied around the bottom of her shoulderblades and behind her neck. She had a dangling crescent moon charm dangling from her pierced navel, something Kai had never known she had before. It gave her a dark aura, and the boys stared at her. She caught Kai giving her a once over and placed both hands on her hips. She looked at the taller of the group, besides Kai, and gave a smile. "You're Yukito, correct?"

He blinked. "Uh... me? Yeah."

"Who are the rest of you?"

"Rico, Monte, and Nicholli." The boys all pointed themselves out, following Nina into the kitchen.

"If you want to leave, you have thirty seconds," She said quietly.

He watched a bead of water as it trailed from her shoulder down her back, then blinked, realizing he had been spoken to. "I think I'll stay. Just to make sure you don't kill yourself."

"You say that now, and you'll be drunk before we leave."

"Really?"

"Yeah, beware the jello shots, they're murder."

"Then I just might have to have one." Riley rolled her eyes, taking a moment to strip the green overcoat of his uniform off of him. "If you go upstairs, Nina's big brother has clothes that will probably fit you. Second door on the left. You might want a pair of swim trunks, since people, if you haven't noticed, have been getting their asses thrown in the pool."

"Why am I doing this again?"

"Because it's fun, and you like seeing girls in hardly any clothing."

"How would you know that?"

"You haven't stopped staring." She winked at him and shoved him in the direction of the stairs.

"You're never embarrassed, are you?" He was halfway up the stairs when he said this.

"I try not to be. It's more fun when you're honest."

xxxxxxxxxx

Kai took another sip of the drink he had been given. 'Sex on the beach,' Riley had called it. It was good. He took another drink of the alcoholic beverage and set it down on the table next to him, the glass empty.

"Drunk yet?" Riley asked, coming up from behind him. He couldn't smell any booze on her breath, yet he was sure she could smell it on his own.

"Not quite," He replied, with a snotty smile. She rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her own drink, which was only a glass of water. "What, are you too good for booze?" he asked, a bit more social.

"Oh no," she muttered. "You aren't drunk yet, you're only starting to become sociable." With a smirk, she continued. "And I've already had one before, and the prospect of being drunk out of my mind slightly wierds me out. Drink a glass of water before your next one or something, would you? The last thing we need here is a drunken champion."

"Yeah, yeah." He stole the glass of water from her hands, and downed it. "Happy?" A butler came by, and he picked up another one of the same beverages. It would be, surprisingly, his third. Typically, he didn't drink. His grandfather would make him sip at a glass of wine for his business dinners, but that was only a great once and a while, and it was a watered down wine that the servers always had prepared for him.

"Not quite."

"Why not? You told me to drink some water." Nina, who was in the general area, caught Kai's attention. Something was resting in her hands, and he was sure that Riley was going to kill her best friend.

She huffed. "Not mine, loser!" With that, she began to walk away, but Kai grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back.

"Sorry," He said with a smirk.

"I'm not sure I like where this is going."

"Then don't."

"Kai, duck!"

The champion let go of Riley and backed away smoothly, as the crimson eyed girl before him got covered with the neon colored silly string, in red, blue, green, and yellow. Riley screamed as the sticky string hit her exposed back and pretty much covered her.

"You assholes! I'm going to kill you all!" The girl immediately grabbed the huge glob of string from her back and threw it at Kai, but more specifically, his head. The goo took hold in his snowy grey-blue locks and got good and stuck.

"Bitch!"

"Aww, is Kai worried about his hair?"

"It's not funny!" He roared at her. She edged back, not too thrilled.

"Nina!" The brunette turned around and growled ferociously. "You ruined my bakini!"

"It wasn't even the sexy one, chill out! And besides, it's starting to cool down anyway."

Riley rolled her eyes, and started toward the kitchen. "I'm going to go shower this shit off." She stopped halfway there, and turned around to look at Nina. "Good shot, bitch."

"You're welcome."

Kai rushed toward her. "I'm coming with you."

Nina whistled and Kai and Riley sent her the most malicious stares she'd probably ever receive in her lifetime. "Mkay," the brunette said, sliding open the door. "God forbid your hair might take on the color of the silly string."

He went completely pale. Most of the string in his hair was pink. That was the last thing he needed. Tyson would humiliate him. For the rest of his pathetic existance.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He exhaled a breath that he hadn't known he had been holding. She led him upstairs, first to the guest bedroom that she had used the night before. He waited outside while she grabbed a set of clothes to change into and then followed her to the bathroom.

It was completely oversized, with two huge sinks, and a large mirror. Then, around the corner, was a shower stall and oversized bath tub with jets, and a hot tub, which was up on a platform.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, yeah." She went into the large closet next to the shower stall, and pulled out two bottles of shampoo. "Here," she said, throwing him one. It was a fresh clean scent, one obviously not flowery or fruity like a woman's shampoo. "Don't peek or I'll seriously kick your ass. I'm getting in the shower."

"What?" He started to realize that his cheeks were beginning to heat up. Now this _had_ to be the work of the alcohol. He didn't blush. It simply wasn't him.

"You heard me," she said, sliding back the door to the shower stall and sliding in. "Not like you could even if you wanted to, since there's this great thing called a tinted door. But still. Don't get any ideas."

He nodded, though she obviously couldn't see it. She started up the shower as he went to town on the mass of sticky silly string in his hair.

About fifteen minutes later, Kai had gotten his hair fixed, and had it pulled back as he usually did. It was as good as new. "Aren't you done yet?"

"I'm a girl, remember? I take a while."

He shrugged, taking another sip of his drink. It tasted great, good and refreshing, and still pretty cold. "Why do they call these drinks 'Sex on the Beach?'"

"I don't know, ask Nina." The water seemed to splatter on the bottom of the stall, based on the sound it had just made. "And just how many of those have you drank? They've been serving drinks for about an hour now."

"This is my third."

"Your ass is definitely going to get drunk."

"I don't really care."

The water stopped and she slid open the door of the shower stall a crack, just enough to grab the fluffy white towel she had laid out for herself. She pulled it in and shut the door again, drying herself off. She then reopened the door and pulled her clothes into the stall, throwing the jeans over the top of her towel which was laying across the top of the stall door.

"I'm glad you came, you know."

"I couldn't hardly spy on you the whole time," he responded simply. "Besides, I'd never know what it'd be like to have sex on the beach."

"Asshole," she said, with a laugh. "That sounded wrong, you know."

"That's entirely the point." The jeans disappeared and suddenly the door opened the entire way, revealing Riley, with soaked hair, dressed in the lowest cut pair of jeans Kai had probably ever seen, and a brown halter top, that revealed a well toned midriff. The ring on her navel was still in tact, and he watched the way a stray bead of water reflected the light of the crystal moon on it.

"You're staring again," she said, quietly. He shrugged, not even bothering to deny it. She caught sight of the glass again, and it was practically empty. "You _are_ drunk, aren't you?"

Kai looked as though he was thinking about it for a moment. "Possibly," he decided. She nodded, leaning down to pick up her bakini and sling it over the top of the shower door to dry out.

"That's what I thought." She picked up the rest of his glass and took as sip. "Have you been asking Nina to get you your drinks?"

He nodded. "Why?"

"She's been doubling up on booze lately. It's kind of her own little joke." She smirked and slipped past him, except this time he caught her at the shoulder. "What?"

"Thanks for inviting me."

"Okay, yeah, you're drunk. Let's go before you really start scaring me."

He shrugged again, and kept his hand on her shoulder, sliding it down to her waist. She seemed to tingle at the presence of his hand but kept her mouth shut about it. Maybe Nina was right. Maybe he did _like_ like her.

Or maybe it was the alcohol talking.

Either way, she did like it.

She discarded this thought quickly as they ended up on the stairs and he let go of her. Nina was waiting for them, her face flushed from the drinks and the excitement. "Come on! It's time for dancing!"

Kai edged back a bit. It made Riley smile a bit that he was against the dancing. Nina gave Riley a dark look.

"Come on," Riley whispered, when the blonde turned her back to them. "You're mine tonight. No one else gets to dance with you."

"Are you flirting?"

She winked. "I am now." He slapped a hand to his forehead and rolled his eyes. "What? The almighty Kai Hiwatari doesn't like the masses throwing themselves at his feet?"

"Riley, quit it."

"Maybe I don't want to."

"Come on."

"Dance with me then."

He sighed. "Alright, fine."

She smiled. "Now that's what I'm talking about." Kai followed her, as she had taken his hand in hers and practically dragged him outside.

It had become dark, and the patio was illuminated by sets of lights strung around the top of the posts set up for the party. It looked beautiful, like a tropical paradise.

"Finally, what took you so long?" Nina smirked at her two friends, while Nicholli's hands were set on her shoulders. Riley wasted no time in starting to dance. She turned to see Kai standing there. She smiled gently and motioned for him to join her. Which he did, placing both hands over hers on her hips, and grinding right up against her. She was shocked, she was appaulled, she was amazed...

She was... loving it?

Oh yeah, that too.

A few dances later, she caught sight of her previous dance partner, Ryoku, the captain of the football team at school. He was heading straight for them. She felt a tingling sensation in her stomach. There were only a few ways this could end, and only one of them were good. "Come on Rya, let's dance."

She inhaled just enough that Kai could tell it was sharper than her previous breathing pattern. "Kai?" Her voice was soft, and anything but forcing. She was asking for his oppinion. What _he_ wanted.

Nina watched the current situation with a bit of surprise etched on her features. This was the ultimate way to tell if he possibly had a teensy tiny bit of feeling for the girl.

"Your call," she whispered, her lips just inches away from his cheek.

His grip tightened. "She's with me," he said possessively, his head leaning downward on her shoulder. She nodded to Ryoku who gave Nina a look while shrugging and holding out his hands as if to tell her he had tried. She nodded and called him over to her. Meanwhile, she watched Riley and Kai with a smirk on her face.

"Got any reasons for that?"

He wrapped both arms around her middle, holding her into him. "Plenty."

She kissed his cheek and he felt his already flushed face heat up a little more at the contact. Damned alcohol. "Good."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Jello shots all around!"

Riley watched, smirking the entire while, as her group of friends took their sixth shot of the substance for the night. Kai had been welcomed into the group with open arms, as the alcohol slowly made him more sociable. He was handling his almost drunkenness pretty well.

Kai gave her a smile, and downed his shot as well. She took a casual sip of her water, having done the first two shots with them and graciously bowing out of the next ones, stating that someone had to drive them home since she had a practice to coach the morning following.

"Riley, I have a dare for you."

She slapped a hand to her forehead. "Here we go, huh?"

A somewhat drunken Nina nodded, not bothering to conceal her mischevious smile. She had a plan alright. "Who's going to do one off Riley?"

"What?" Kai looked surprised. What was the blonde talking about?

Riley rolled her eyes and got up. She caught Kai's incredulous glance. "She means a shot," One of Nina's friends, Leanne explained, with a gentle slur. The boy between Nina and Leanne, Yukito, had been privy to only one shot, since he was coming down from his completely trashed state before, without a flaw or headache. Deep down, the Seattle Native figured she was driving home tonight, and that he was definitely not going to want to practice in the morning.

"Yeah, we might be a kinky bunch of bastards," Nina slurred, "But we don't get _that_ bad."

"Suuurrre," Riley said, with a smile. "There was that one time two weeks ago that you wanted to use that basketball pole as a stripper would."

Nina stuck a finger in Riley's face, still buzzed. "Yeah, but that was different," She protested.

Kai gave Riley a curious glance. "That's right," The American hummed. "You weren't drunk then."

"Shut up! You did it with me!"

"So?" Riley stretched and sat back down, backwards on the chair, tilting it foreward a bit. They were all sitting at a table on the porch, which was lit up with tikis and fire. The lights were still emitting a dull light in an array of neon colors, as well as the aquatic blueish color of the pool. It had a rather exotic aura coming off it, and the group doing shots was loud enough to supply for an entire party.

"So? Who's going to?" There were three others as well, and one of them, being the final male, Ryoku, spoke up. The other two girls were friends of Nina and Leanne's, who had come across Riley in passing occasionally. "Come on, there's only three guys here, someone has to step up."

Leanne and Nina both looked to Kai. He gulped a bit and Riley extended a hand to stop Nina from dragging him up. "Leave him alone, he's only fresh meat."

"You've done this to someone before?"

Riley's cheeks flushed. "No," she replied, without a bit of nervousness. "But I've never let anyone do one off of my stomach either."

"Come on. One of you has to be drunk enough to do it." Leanne looked accusingly at Kai, who shrugged.

Yukito entered the conversation. "I will." Nina elbowed him. "What? I can't help it if the girl is hot! She's even got fire in her eyes!"

"Alright," Nina said. "Come on, Riley."

"No."

"What?" All eyes turned to Kai who gave Riley a look more mischievious than Nina's previous one.

"I will."

Nina jumped up in excitement. "Alright."

Riley felt her cheeks tinge a little bit as Nina and Leanne prepared the shot that he was to do off her stomach. This was totally innopropriate. He was her trainee, for Pete's sake. He wasn't supposed to be catching her at her sleazy party moments with her friends. She stopped. Now was a great time to be embarrassed. Maybe she should've done those last few shots. They probably would've done her some good, since Kai was being sociable, with her group of friends.

"Okay, we're good to go."

"Let's get this overwith," She sighed. "This kind of tickles."

"Yeah, well deal with it. This is pure Key-West." She saw a shadow come over her, that was unmistakably the captain of the team she had been coaching for the past eight months or so.

"Are you okay with this?" She stared up at him, literally, gawking.

She shrugged as much as she possibly could, being laid out on the table before him. "You ask me this now? Right now, when I'm pretty much offered up as a human sacrifice?"

He smiled. She had hit a nerve somewhere, and he looked like he was about to laugh. He chuckled casually. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Drunken bastard."

"If I was that drunk, I would've been all over you already." She rolled her eyes, but an evil glimmer seemed to take hold in them. She wondered if he noticed. Oh yeah, she realized. He had.

"I'm sure that's something you could manage," Nina said, from behind. "Get on with it!"

"Yeah, yeah." Kai dipped down, and Riley resisted the sudden urge to moan in pleasure as his lips collided with the flesh of her stomach. He however, didn't resist that, and she gasped when she heard him make a sound she had never heard him make. Once he was finished with the alcohol, he planted a simple kiss tenderly above her navel, then stood up straight and extended a hand to pull her up. Nina smirked.

Oh yeah, he wanted nothing to do with her, Nina thought. He was only obsessed.

_**x x x**_

"Ugh, My head."

"Come on, Kai! PRACTICE STARTS NOW!" Tyson stormed down the hallway, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Riley padded quietly behind the navy haired champion. "Why don't you keep it down?" He turned and stared at her incredulously. "Did you not just hear him complaining about his head?"

"We tend not to listen to him." Riley shoved Tyson out of the way and held up a hand for him to wait in the doorway of the captain's room. She had figured this was going to happen.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her voice low.

"I feel like shit."

"Sick?"

"Yeah." His voice was dark and moody, still groggy with sleep. She turned to Tyson who was in the doorway and whispered for him to get some tylonol and water.

"Why are you whispering?" Tyson asked her, in a normal voice. Kai grabbed his head.

"He's sick, dipshit. Now do what I said." She sat at the side of Kai's bed, once the younger boy had left. "Hungover?"

He cracked open one eye, then shut it again because of the light in the room. "Mmm hmm."

She ran a hair through his silvery blue locks, and he shivered upon the contact. "I'll take care of Tyson."

"Thanks." She nodded, though his eyes were still shut, and his hands were still clasped up on his head. Tyson came back into the room.

"What's wrong with him?"

She looked up at the champ and smiled. "It's just a bug. He's got a bit of a fever, and he said his head hurt, so we're going to leave him alone for a while."

Tyson nodded. "How'd you know he had a fever without a thermometer?"

"His forehead felt hot, comprende?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Go train. I'm going to make sure nothing serious is wrong with Kai so we don't have to deal with anyone and hospitals or anything of the sort."

Tyson rolled his eyes and got up, to leave the room. He lingered in the doorway, as Kai took the first pill rather shakily, swearing in a language he didn't quite understand. Riley immediately took this language to calm him down, which he did, with much shock to Tyson. She allowed him to lean on her as he took the last pill, as obviously, he was pretty dizzy.

He didn't look sick, Tyson realized. He looked hungover.

The champ shook his head. Nah. Kai wouldn't do anything stupid like that and get drunk. It just wasn't him.

But still, his mind protested weakly, he was still a teenage boy, regardless of the fact that he was about the equivalent to a glacier in the emotional status.

And since when the hell did the two of them actually get along like friends? Kai wasn't weak, and right now, he was acting like a baby. It was weird. He shrugged. He'd have to go ask Hiro's oppinion. This was going to be rather interesting.

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_Thanks goes to Midnightmare who reminded me of how much more i have to go on this fic! To believe I wrote this part last September blows my mind away. I'll update again soon, since I have up to chapter ten completed!_

_Thanks for reading, and please review!_


	9. Just as Friends

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I only own my OCs, and the plot line.

Summary:The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Eight: Just As Friends

Distant Storm

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Max, Tyson, Ray, and Kenny all sat at the dining room table, silently. Many thoughts were going through their minds.

"Since when does Kai acually bother with this kind of thing?"

Kenny shook his head. "He doesn't."

Hilary and Hiro entered the room. "Who doesn't what?" The brunette girl asked, taking an extra seat and offering one to the elder coach, who declined, standing instead.

"Kai left this paper sitting on the table," Max said, handing it to Hiro, who examined it carefully.

"It's kind of like a cotillion thing, isn't it?"

"No," Ray said, shaking his head. Hilary, being the female, and obviously aware of just what could freak a guy out so bad, gasped. "No way."

Tyson nodded. "Oh yeah. Yes way."

"What do you mean?" Max looked up, not quite comprehending Hilary's sudden stupor.

"Uhh, Maxy," Tyson began, trying to be simple.

Hilary noted the champ's uneasiness and decided to finish it off. "This isn't like any other kind of dance. This is a prom."

Max deadpanned. "Prom?"

"According to this," Hiro said, reading the paper, "It is required for all guys to bring a female escort."

At this, all members of the group assembled in the kitchen stared in absolute shock at each other. "Kai... and a girl? Prom?"

Tyson snorted. "That would be like Kai on a date!" He said, exploding into laughter.

Hilary punched his arm. "That _would_ be a date, you dipstick."

The rest of the group began cracking up. Kai needing a date, and the usual Tyson-Hilary antics were catching up to them. They really did have a bizzarre group of friends, didn't they?

xxxxxxxxx

Kai walked through the warmed streets of Bakuten, not bothering with a jacket as the temperatures were warm, and well above normal for the day. He had neglected his car this day, since Riley was with one of her friends, and he had offered to meet up with and train with her later.

He rounded the corner, and stuffed his hands down into his pockets. God, he thought, Riley. Lately, things had been pretty akward, but still, kind of not. In his own mind, things were pretty weird, but he was the master of a facade. She wasn't even uncomfortable around her, that was just her way. She said that it wasn't worth it. To him, it made absolutely no sense, seeing as she'd kissed him, he'd kissed her stomach, not to mention done a shot off it at his first real teenage party experience. He had even danced with her. What the hell had he been smoking that night?

Ahh, he thought, a moment later. Sex on the beach. Well, he hadn't smoked it, but you get the picture.

Suddenly, he felt the silvery ribbons of a fantasy pushing its way up to the front of his mind. He had been privy to this a lot lately, and it was starting to bother him. Though, his imagination had been surprising him. He didn't know that his mind could be that vivid about things that he'd never experienced. This must be what being a normal teenage is all about.

Hormones.

The captain crossed the next street, winding up in the park. He had told her to meet him there so they could train. He scanned the area around him, smirking as his eyes caught up with a solitary form, swinging on one of the three swings to his right.

"Hey, loser, get over here!" She called, her voice loud and happy, with the euphoria of the height the swing was reaching.

He shook his head as if to say she was insane. "You're such a kid, Ry," He responded. He then realized his mistake. He didn't typically call her Ry, much less Riley lately. It was something that he hadn't done because that typically triggered his overactive imagination. Just what the heck was wrong with himself these days?

"I know, and that's why you love me."

He glanced at her curiously. Do I? He asked himself. It just might explain his actions. Though he thought it was just a petty crush, something that he felt toward her because of her kissing him, and because of the fact that she was one of two guys in her life. He came down to the same feeling. He had to be obsessed with her. When he wasn't beyblading, he was thinking of her. Or beating Tyson. But that typically went in the beyblading category. He had been careful not to slip about their training, which he was sure someone had probably either figured out, or thought that they were just really good friends. Which they were, but he wasn't sure anymore that it was what he wanted. And exactly what the hell did it mean to her?

"Hey, quit fantasizing or whatever the hell you're doing." He did a shocked double take and shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts. She was no longer on the swing and he realized that he had indeed phased out. She extended her hand to him.

He smirked and took it. Surprisingly, doing much to boost his current issues, she didn't let go. "Where to today?"

"The usual spot. We're training and then, well, I don't know. I don't feel like being back at the dojo. I'm just not in the mood." Her darkening mood kind of bothered him.

"What's wrong?" He pressed.

She shook her head. "Nothing."

"Liar."

"If I tell you, we won't train."

"Could it really be that bad?"

She shrugged, as his grip on her hand tightened. "Possibly," she decided. "And I as much as I'd like taking that chance..."

He tugged on her hand and brought her closer to him. She turned around and looked at him, with a gentle smile tracing her lips. He felt another mental urge. God, she just looked so... so kissable right there. She looked at him curiously, biting her bottom lip, which was in a bit of a pout, and her eyes glimmered like rubies in sunlight, out of surprise at his newfound attitude. He'd been acting strange around her lately. She knew that, and so did he. He knew she was a bit out of character as well, just not as bad. "Now what do I do?" he asked, more to himself, not really meaning for it to be said aloud.

"Whatever you feel," Came the whisper from the body next to him.

He looked down at her, his intention to keep his thoughts in his head newly mistaken. He released her hand and leaned down. At that exact moment, she inched up on her toes. They met somewhere in the middle.

Riley sighed softly, in relief perhaps, as his lips met hers. She slung her arms over his shoulders as his hands slid down to her upper thighs and pushed her into him. A low moan sounded in the back of his throat a moment later, as she nearly begged for her tongue to enter his mouth. He might have been desperate to try this maneuver, even if he wouldn't admit it, but he would obtain the upperhand.

Neither was sure who broke the kiss, but Riley came back up to him. "Kai," she whispered, against his lips.

His mind was sent spinning. He liked the way his name sounded. The way she said his name. Like it was his true name, and every other time, someone was calling him something that just wasn't him. She leaned back and watched him, her eyes locked with his. She didn't look, upset, surprised, nothing like that. She seemed peaceful, at ease, as if she was in her utopia. He'd like that. He'd like to be her utopia.

And that was corny. Now he had to level with himself. Ah, well. He was in love with her.

Yeah, Kai Hiwatari, the chunk of ice, glacier-man, sourpuss, whatever you'd like to call him. He was in love. With a girl.

Shocking, huh?

"We should train, shouldn't we?" He asked, after a moment. He could've cursed himself for saying it, but he knew, to keep himself in line, he'd have to.

"Yeah." She didn't seem as rattled as he was, but she was still a little jolted. Her hand traced the side of his face, gently, like a whisper of breath. "What- what exactly was that?"

"It didn't mean anything," Kai said, just a bit rushed. He couldn't tell her. It just wasn't his way, nor would it be for a long while to come.

She shook her head. "No. Of course not." After a general pause, she walked beyond her partner and into the clearing. "Now come on. We have training to do."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Again."

He rolled his eyes, and did the same as his team mates. Riley was really getting bitchy lately. "Dude," Max said, to him quietly. "P.M.S. anyone?"

"I heard that, Tate."

"Shit." The blonde American gulped and closed his eyes, trying not to get himself in even more trouble. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Don't say that word."

"Sorry-"

"That one." He looked confused and she rolled her eyes in his direction. "Don't say you're sorry. Just don't do it again."

"Again? Huh? What?" Tyson asked, completely out of whack by the last word.

Riley smirked at all of them, her eyes trailing for a second on Kai. "That word really messes with all your heads, huh?"

They all nodded, though at different times. "Yeah."

A genuine smile blossomed on her face, and Kai edged back, drawing out his beyblade and locking it onto his launcher. All his friends had their beyblades on the ground, and their control of the diamondback alloy enhanced beyblades was still pretty lame. He had mastered it before. Long before. He had been around this girl long enough to know what she was planning on doing.

"Again-"

Kai launched his beyblade at the same time she did, and met hers in mid air, sending it back to her hand. A smirk wove in with his features, and the rest of the group had been staring at her in complete shock.

"Well," Riley said, pulling a bit chip out of her pocket just a bit so he could see that it wasn't on her beyblade. "That was rather interesting." The group all stared at Kai as the beyblade casually wound up in his hand. Casually meaning moving faster than seen by his team mates.

"How the heck did you do that?" Daichi asked, shocked.

Kai sneered and shrugged. "Practice. Just how many hours do you watch tv a day?"

Max and Ray edged back a bit as well. "Ouch." They recalled their beyblades, looking at them, as if to scrutinize every bit of their being. Riley pulled her beyblade into her pocket.

"Alright, Senor Captain, let's see what you've got." Kai nodded, recalling his beyblade and walking over to Riley's side, or, as the group typically called it, the winning side. No one had come close to even beating Riley, though they had all learned to break her spin with numerous techniques.

Max noted that Riley gave Kai a smile quickly before he had faced the group. But what shocked him, just a bit, was that when he nodded back, his mouth was close to a smile as well.

Kai faced them and Riley took a step back. She had been doing this a lot lately, starting out the practice and then leaving them to Kai, who suddenly was a tough opponent, even though his skills were nowhere near Riley's. He hadn't beat Tyson, and that was no surprise, as the champion was also working hard, after Riley's latest talk of the people to look out for. There were just too many people who were infinites. Tyson thought that title had a ring to it, and he wanted to be the one given that title after the championships.

But he didn't realize, or maybe he did, it's always hard to tell with Tyson, that Riley, to them, was no infinite. The wondered what she did to superpower her blade, because she was no infinite, and that was general knowledge to them. So how much more powerful were the actual infinites?

"Alright, who's first?"

Tyson came forward. It was always Tyson who felt the need to bring Kai down, so that his spirit would be broken, just a little. It always helped the others in training. Riley glanced at Tyson and nodded to him. She then looked up, to see Hiro standing behind the group watching.

"What's going on here?" He asked, curious.

"Kai's about to show Tyson what for."

"Really? I hardly think that Kai is going to beat my little brother. It hasn't happened yet," The older Granger pointed out. Tyson laughed, his ego inflating, while Kai growled, locking his beyblade into position.

"Ha ha," Riley said, not impressed by the Grangers' confidence in themselves. "Alright you two, nothing fancy. No bit beasts either. Just launch and try to take the other out. With the least amount of time in the dish as possible."

Kai nodded, closing his eyes to let the concentration overcome him. Tyson lowered himself into his launching position, ready to go. Kai waited, and Hiro began the count down.

"Three... two... one-"

Both bladers launched their beyblades, and Kai caught the upper hand quickly, his blade traveling much faster, and sending Tyson's flying into the pond on the opposite side of the yard, where it landed with a splash. It hadn't even hit the dish, and Kai recalled his blade from the air. Riley nodded. "You've been practicing harder than your team mates, no?"

He said nothing, and looked to Max, Ray and Daichi. "Let's go, you three."

Riley looked over to Tyson, who had run to retrieve his beyblade from the pond. "Come on Ty, let's go train, you and me."

Kai's head tilted in her direction. What the hell? He was the only one who received training from her, Tyson didn't. The champ turned back to Ray and Max. So this was jealousy, huh? Well, he got one conclusion out of the matter.

Jealousy sucks.

"Come on, Kai, are you going to stare out into space, or are we going to get it on?" Daichi jumped up, being shorter than the captain trying to get his attention. Max and Ray shook their heads in a knowing matter towards the twerp. Kai was going to rip him to shreads one of these days. They had bets already taken on it.

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Riley took Tyson to the beach, where they typically practiced in the afternoon. This area of it was abandoned, as the local beybladers didn't use it during this time of day. Tyson's entire walk was a bit more depressed, as he had lost within less than a second of launch.

"He caught me off guard," Tyson said, wishing to defend himself.

"He's been working hard to beat you," Riley replied thoughtfully. "I've come across him training a lot." Her crimson eyes settled out over the ocean, her thoughts resting on the captain of the team she trained. God, she loved that boy, whether she wanted to or not. He had just grown on her, for being a sadistic asshole, and for being a devoted friend, and never a quitter. He'd never agree to the second reason, but she knew he cared. After all, he had kissed her, so either he was waaaay to curious, or he had probably wanted to really kiss her.

"Still," Tyson said, bringing her back to reality, "Next time, I'll beat him."

"Focus on speed and strength. Kai has strength, but his speed and endurance are greater than yours right now. Focus on obliterating him faster."

Tyson looked lost. "How can I do that when he totals me at the launch?"

Riley shook her head. "I highly doubt that he's going to do that to you in the championship round."

He nodded. "But how do I get an edge, because he's probably got more moves on me now too!" The champ began huffing, kicking the sand at his feet.

"Come on, let's go, I'm going to teach you a few new moves that I'm not teaching the rest of you."

He looked up, a bit happier than before. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Riley nodded and began teaching him things that other infinites had taught her, as she had moved her way through the gangs. Tyson was a fast learner when his concentration was on beating his opponent. Still, she couldn't help but feel a bit torn, between the boy she had known since she was little, and the boy she had taken under her wing. She couldn't help that she liked, and possibly even loved Kai, it happened to her unintentionally, however the results were still pretty good. She liked spending that extra bit of time with him, though she had to lie to get it most of the time. Hiro had been asking her how he had gotten so good, and Riley had admitted once or twice to helping him a bit, since he kept getting frustrated. Hiro asked how Kai knew about her omegacide, and she had said that he was with Dickenson during the battle or something, which didn't match the original tale. She knew he had an inkling about something going on, but she still didn't feel the need to explain. One of the G Revolutions was already an infinite, and she knew it. He personally doubted himself, and she'd have to change that. However, it was nothing she could do until she reached Seattle again. Things were definitey heading for a meltdown this year.

Still, she knew, eventually, she'd be faced with a choice. And as much as it may hurt one of them, she knew who she chose.

Everybody loves the underdog.

xxxxxxxxxx

Riley threw herself down onto her bed. The entire place was silent. The boys, save Kai, went out with Hilary to go train and get some stats. She had been slowly decreasing her training on them, making them a bit more self disciplined, and a bit more focused on training with Kai, or Hiro. She couldn't stay forever, and they were beginning to realize that. Hiro had been a bit harder on her, asking her where she had been, and the like. Ever since that day she had lied and said Kai was sick, when he was actually hung over, Hiro had been on her case.

It was like he knew or something. But the problem with that was that he coudln't find out. If he did, it would be bad because Dickenson would find out, and the man was practically like her father. He could kill her after Kai became the champ, that would be much, much better. Kai would hopefully stick up to her by that time.

A knock came to the door, and she sat up, finding herself face to face with the boy who had concerned her previous thoughts. "Hey, I was just thinking about you."

"Good things, I hope?"

"Nope, horrible ones, actually," He rolled his eyes and sat down, without asking. "Way to ask, Kai."

He shrugged and leaned back, looking over at her. "Actually, that's why I'm here."

She looked interested, blinking once and then positioning herself so that her head was leaned up against his chest and stomach. "Oh really?"

"Yeah." She smiled, and waited for him to continue. "My school is a bunch of assholes," He began, watching her ever movement. She was calm. He realized that this was the only girl who wasn't partially afraid of him. Nina was okay with him, but the two weren't as tight as he was with Riley. She could use him as a human pillow, and she didn't care. He found himself liking it. "Anyway, outside of the obvious, they have this participation thing. All seniors are required to go to this dance-thing."

"Prom?" She asked, her curiousity sparked. He gulped, and she heard it, being pressed up against him. "Don't be nervous," she said quietly.

He was appauled. She really did know him pretty damned well. "So, yeah, we're required to bring an escort- just as friends, you know-" He looked at her pointedly, though her head wasn't tilted in her direction. "Now would be the time where you say, 'oh yeah, sure, I'll go with you.' Help me out here, would you?"

She laughed gently, though mocklingly all the same. "It's funny to watch you freak out, even if it is one of the mildest versions of 'freak out' I've ever seen. Besides, you're cute when you're nervous."

He turned serious. "That is the worst word association I've ever heard."

"But I'm going with you to prom, so you better deal with it or else I'll say the same thing when Yukito and Nicholli are around."

He rolled his eyes, then realized what she had said. "So you're actually going with me?"

"I just said that, dipshit. Besides, I already know you can dance." She sat up and hovered over him. "And thank you for asking, because I wasn't planning on going to my school's."

He then realized the proximity of her body to his, which was something he thought he would've realized when she was actually touching him. He hated this almost nervous embarrassment thing he had going on. He had to have picked now to become semi-normal.

She kissed his lips again, soft, slow, and sweet, three words that he suddenly found a new pleasure in. This girl was amazing, and he was shocked at this kiss. "Thank you," she whispered, again against his lips. God, that was like a language all her own, he swore upon it. The sliding open of one of the regular doors to the dojo made her bolt up. He sat up and stole another kiss from the corner of her mouth causing her to smile.

"Rylily? You around?" She immediately recognized the voice to be Tyson's grandfather. She smiled.

"Hey, Grandpa!" Her voice echoed happily throughout the rooms of the dojo.

Kai looked at her curiously. "Rylily?" He mouthed.

"Middle name," she responded quietly. "He only uses it when no one else's around." Nodding, he tested it out again upon his lips, and decided he liked it. "You're going to start calling me that, aren't you?"

He nodded. "I like it."

"Aren't you sweet."

"What's up Ry-Girl?"

"Nothing much," she responded, as the man came to the door of her bedroom.

"Is the sour-dude bothering you?"

She shook her head and looked at the man. "No, he's fine. He was just asking me something."

Mr. Granger's eyes narrowed. "What would that be?"

"He asked about the infinites at the tournament; wow, everyone's being so sneaky and on edge these days. It's not like we're having some secret affair or anything."

He exhaled, more relaxed. "Well duh, Rylily. Just watch out for them silent dudes and all that jive."

"I'm right here, I can hear you, old man," Kai said, annoyed.

"That's what I'm worried about, dude. See you later, dudette."

Riley laughed as the old man walked away. "He thinks you're like stalking me, I think."

"I think you're stalking me."

"Nah," she said, dismissing the thought. "We're in an orbit all our own. We meet somewhere in the middle."

"That can work," he decided, thinking upon it for a moment.

"I do believe it can." She stopped, got up, and turned around to look at him. She then put both hands on her hips and pretended to be somekind of dramatic superstar. "But whatever shall I wear?" She threw the back of her hand against her forehead and sighed. "Woe is me, I need to spend thousands of dollars!"

Kai threw his wallet at her, clocking her in the shoulder. She caught it and opened it up, finding a drivers liscense, a few bills, and a credit card. "Go ahead."

"I have money, remember? I'm Dickenson's sort of daughter."

"I still need a charity act for the year."

"Why? You pick me up from school already, remember?"

"Yeah, but I want to do that."

"And you don't want to buy me a dress for prom?"

He looked confused. "I- uh-"

"I'm just fucking around." She slid out his credit card. "Shall I go for a tramp, or extremely traditional?"

"Something inbetween."

"Sexy?"

He didn't know exactly how to respond, so he said nothing. She nodded.

"I'll go for that one, then."

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Max and Tyson stood in the doorway of Kai's room as Ray fussed over him like a mother hen. "Jesus Christ, don't you think Kai knows how to tie a tie?"

Kai glared at the two boys in the doorway as Ray began his intricate weaving of the scarf-like garment around his neck. He would've killed for the scarf right now. Unfortunately, things just didn't work that way. It was prom. Tyson and Max began to snicker. "How many pushups would you like at tomorrow's practice, boys?" He asked, the glare still fresh and evil.

"You know, I can still call Hilary, if you'd like to actually graduate high school this year. I know you're required to have a date. I know she's got a dress that would match your outfit," Tyson said, completely serious. "I don't mind sharing."

Max nodded. "This is Prom, Kai. Once in a lifetime thing, you know?"

"Two hundred?" He questioned viciously, snarling as Ray pulled the tie just a bit too tight. The Chinese boy jumped back and said nothing, a bit wierded out. "Or more?"

"You know, speaking of Hilary, where is she?"

"Said she was back at her house doing a school project, which I think is a ton of bullshit. She asked Riley to help her with it, which makes no sense, because Hilary's classes are of things that Riley's just not interested in."

"You never know," Ray responded, tucking the hankerchief into Kai's breast pocket. "There," the black haired boy said, standing back to admire his work. "Perfect. Now if you only had a date."

"Would you guys lay off it?" He asked, a bit moody. "I have a date, don't worry about it."

"Come on Kai, even we're not that stupid." Ray glared at Tyson, as if to say, 'well maybe you are,' "Hilary offered to go, if you absolutely needed it."

"I. Have. A. Date." Kai turned around and poked Tyson in the chest. "Get it?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes." Kai ran a hand through his hair, exhaling with a bit of frustration. He was beginning to get flustered. He wanted to get out of the dojo. She was no pressure. They, however, had become quite the opposite.

"Who?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"You're not even picking her up?"

"Why bother? She's not high maintainance."

"Lucky bastard," Ray cursed. "I love Riah to death, but she's always all over me whenever I'm in town."

"Shut it," Tyson said, accusingly. "You know you like it."

Ray turned a bit red. "So?"

Max rolled his eyes at his friends' stupidity. Their captain was long gone. "So, boys," he said, with a smile that showed creativity and a bit of sneakiness, "Who's going to call and tell Dickenson that the great Kai Hiwatari has a date for this lovely evening?"

Tyson jumped up and down. "Pick me! Ooh! Ooh! Pick me!"

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Meanwhile, at Hilary's house...

"God, I wish I had your curves."

"Thanks, I guess." Riley ran the straightener through her hair once more. "I hope things go good tonight."

"Yeah, you said you needed help getting ready for prom. I thought you weren't going."

"I'm not going to our school's prom," She said, with a smirk that Kai frequently used when he knew he could hold things over his friends' heads.

She did a double take. "Then who's are you going to?"

"Kai's."

An anime style fall followed. "With him?"

Riley nodded, and Hilary's mouth just about dropped to her knees. "Yeah, he needs this as a final thing before graduation, you know, escort type thing. He was all, 'gruff and Kai-like,' but he was nervous as hell. He even said it was just as friends." Hilary began to burst out laughing.

She then stopped abruptly "No way."

Riley raised her eyebrows at her brunette friend. "Don't go there, I can read your mind. Okay, so maybe I can't. But I know what you're thinking and you need to stop."

"I see the way he looks at you, and I know he gives you a ride home each day. He never did that even when we all got out at the same time. He has to feel something for you."

She shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."

"Do the boys know that Kai asked you?" She paused. "That sounds entirely strange, you do know that, right?"

"Totally." Riley put down the straightener and admired her long hair that hung down perfectly. "And no."

Hilary giggled like one of Tyson's fangirls. "You're kidding me."

"Well, come on, it just comes right up in normal, everyday conversation." She turned on a charmingly fake voice, that made her sound like a girly prep. "Well, guys, you know," She added in a giggle. "I, like, was sitting in my room, and Kai came in, you know, because we're only like best friends, and then you know, he's all nervous, and like, come on, let's go to the prom together," She paused and her voice became normal again. "So Tyson, how's the sandwich choking thing working out? Oh, you're dieing? That's too bad." She held up her hands. "Because that's exactly how it would wind up."

"Sad thing is that I could see that happening."

xxxxxxxxxx

Hilary flew into Kai's room, unannounced. "Hey, Yukito, Nicholli and some other kids are here with their dates. Look kinda skankish, except for the blonde. She's okay."

"Alright." He looked up from his position in front of the computer, where he was scanning something in Russian that she couldn't comprehend. A rose lay strewn across his lap, and he glanced down at it before looking back up at her.

She shook her head, a smile present on her face. She slid the door shut behind her. "So, Riley, huh?" She said, with a smile. She wasn't being funny. She was just interested.

"She's just a friend."

" Yeah, and I'm not madly in love with Tyson."

He gawked at her. "You've actually admitted it?"

She blushed. "No, not yet. But come on, even you've picked on me for it." She sat on his bed and smiled. "Good choice, though Tyson might kill her."

"Don't think I don't know that." Hilary's head snapped back to attention, focusing on him. "What?"

"You love her, don't you?"

Kai shrugged. "I don't know."

"Have you kissed her?"

"Could you get any more annoying?"

"I know what that means," she said, giving him a smirk. "I'm a girl." Her hands were now on her hips. "How many times?"

"Three," he mumbled, almost too quietly for her to hear.

She giggled. "See, she wouldn't admit it. Said that it wasn't my business."

"It isn't."

"Yeah, but still." He faced her. "You know, you two are perfect for each other."

The captain staired at her. "And why do you say that?"

"Do you not see the way she looks at you?"

He did a double take. "What?"

She sighed, exasperated. "Figure it out." With that, she patted him once on the shoulder. "I'd say good luck, but I doubt you'll take it."

"I think," he said, pressing his index fingers against his temples, "I'll take what I can get."

xxxxxxxxxx

Riley saw the group of people accumulated in the living room of the Dojo. She caught sight of Nina, who was currently sitting on Yukito's lap. Well, she thought, that was only entirely expected. They looked adorable, and no one could say otherwise. The blonde winked at her, and Yukito nodded in a way that didn't divert anyone's attention to her.

"Kai, your date is late. What the hell?" Daichi looked surprised at Ray's swearing.

Tyson chuckled. "Oh, come on, he probably doesn't even have one, so he said he did. Then when he gets stood up-"

"Tyson, that's not entirely nice to say about your captain," Mr. Dickenson chimed. Riley gulped. Dickenson? Oh man, this was going to be quite a disaster. The guy was practically her father, and she didn't feel embarassed to be with Kai, but things were probably going to get kind of ackward. "I'm sure she'll show."

"She'd better," Hiro chimed in. "I want to see who would actually pity you enough to go with you."

Riley took a deep breath. Now or never, she decided. "I think you all should shut your yaps. I think who I decide to go to prom with is my own choice, no?" Through the silence, the only sound was that of high heels on wooden floors that covered the entire dojo.

"No way."

"Holy shit." Tyson looked back and forth between the two of them. "What the hell?"

The girl entered the room in a ballroom gown that extended to the floor, in a light silvery color. She looked stunning, as the color of the dress magnified her eye color, and the pale pink shadow on her eyes accentuated it as well. She smiled at all of them.

Kai casually extended his hand to her and she took it, letting him pull her in closer to him. While the rest of the group discussed their shock, the captain leaned over and whispered a string of compliments in her ear, something he knew he'd get badgered for by his friends if he said them aloud.

She felt something brush up against her hand, something that wasn't his hand. She recognized it instantly, casting a glance behind her to see it. It was a beautiful rose, white in color, and extremely innocent in giving. She knew him well. He'd never show the flower off. It wasn't his style. She murmurred her thanks, a gesture unheard with the exception of the boy whom she had directed it to. He smiled, actually smiled, holding onto one of her hands with his.

"I can't believe that you two would actually go-" Nina extended a hand in front of Mr. Dickenson's form, on one of the nearby couches.

"Then stop trying to believe and just deal. I don't know what to tell you, honestly."

"Nina, cool it," Kai pressed. Max gave him a shocked look.

Tyson caught onto the blonde's reasoning. "Since when do you have friends of the opposite sex, much less friends other than us?"

Kai rolled his eyes, and Riley squeezed his hand as if to calm him down. "Whatever," he stated, not entirely impressed by their front of questions.

"Nina's my best friend, remember? And by the way, I think it's time we get the hell out of here."

xxxxxxxxxx

She stepped out onto the courtyard, her face flushed from the heat resonating throughout the room full of couples dancing and enjoying themselves. She noted the small fountain into the middle of the courtyard and approached it, sitting down on it's edge.

"Come on, Kai," she called, catching his form in the doorway between the inside and outside.

He came out, completely silent, his eyes taking on more of their purple side in the pale moonlight. When he got to the fountain, he sat down next to her. Suddenly things felt just a bit uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking. This is strange, isn't it?" He looked at her, surprise coveting his features.

He shrugged. "If you're talking about the overly romantic environment and our friends trying to make us get together, you're absolutely right."

She laughed and looked up. "This isn't your thing, is it, champion?" He looked at her as if to ask if she even had to ask. "Fine, be like that. You know, I never got to tell you that you look great in the tux, as uncomfortable as I'm told it is to wear one of them."

He looked over at her and smirked. "Flirt."

"In my nature."

He shrugged and drew an arm around her. "Hey brat, I have a question for you." She looked at him as if to ask him to continue. "Why'd you agree to go to prom with me? For real."

Riley looked over at him and smirked. "Because you needed a date." He seemed depressed. "But you said for real, so I suppose I should tell the truth." His curiousity seemed to spark. "You're the only person I'd want to go with, and that's about as corny as it gets. So yeah."

He nodded. "Good, so you don't just pity me."

"Nope, I promise." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and he reached out and stroked the side of her face. She caught the look in his eyes. Hunger. "For sake of beyond irony of a dramatic scene such as this, why the hell not?" She waited for him to make a move, which took all of half a second.

He pulled her right into his lap and kissed her until both of them were out of breath. "You know what I like?" he asked her, looking her in the eye.

"I have no idea, I'm just here for the insane kissing action." She smirked in a way that reminded him of himself.

He laughed, still a bit reserved. "Though I agree, I have to admit, you make this easy. No consequences. I like that."

"Someone's gotta be your friend, and besides, I don't believe in blackmail."

"Haha. You'd be rich."

"I've considered it."

He looked up in mock surprise. "No. That's not your nature."

"So you've got me figured, eh, champ?"

He nodded, and she took the hint.

"Alright, then just try to keep up." She inched upward and began kissing him in a way that demanded his complete attention. She heard him moan, but she said nothing, turning on the fierce nature she typically kept in reserve. He responded more to that, pulling her tighter, closer, until they were practically one entity. She mumbled his name against his lips.

"Again."

She directed his attention to his eyes, now just hairs away from his lips for the third time. "What?"

"Say it again."

The sound of footsteps interrupted them. "Dude, they just named you-" The boy paused. "Uhh... right. I'll just pretend I didn't just but in."

Riley nodded, turning her head toward Yukito, who was hand in hand with Nina. "Very good idea." Kai nuzzled her neck, kissing her directly on a nerve, sending shivers down her spine. Nina laughed, saying something about knowing it would happen eventually, and pulled Yukito back into the school, and more specifically, the dance floor.

She cupped his head in her hands, bringing him back up to eye level. "Now," she said breathily. "Where were we?"

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_Well, there's the eigth chapter. It's a lot of kissing, heh? Anywho, the dramatics will kick up next chapter, don't you worry. God knows Kai needs a good problem every once in a while. And did anyone catch the foreshadowing in the last chapter? Ah well, if you didn't don't worry, it's not that big of a deal. You'll catch on._

_thanks for reading, and please review!_

_x3 Distant Storm_


	10. A Quick Reminder

**OKAY, THERE IS THE NEW CHAPTER. I OMITTED A CHAPTER IN THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATION, SO GO BACK AND READ "AND YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE EASY." So, there you have it. This is the new chapter. Read on, homies!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I only own my OCs, and the plot line.

Summary:The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Nine: A Quick Reminder

Distant Storm

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He shuffled into the kitchen, which was still entirely dark. No one was awake, since no one had exams on this first day of June. Flicking on the dimmest lights of the black and forest green kitchen, he sat at the island with a cup of coffee, thinking. Things were happening fast.

For example, he had put together the attack, though it still lacked all the spark and sizzle that Riley's version had. That had been four days ago, and Riley had been just about as happy with him as ever. She'd kissed the hell out of him for that. And to his surprise, that wasn't the only thing that had happened fast. He pretty much had abandoned all care about being nervous to kiss her, or to hold her. That was an aftermath of the prom incident. He figured it was just his nature kicking in.

They had no real defined thing. They weren't dating, they were just best friends who felt the need to do things with each other. He realized how raunchy that sounded and shook his head. Now he knew why they called it 'friends with benefits.' Still, this entire ordeal didn't stop him from feeling the exact same way about her. He had a feeling that he was beyond in love with her, but that was the only thing he refused to tell her. After that, there was no going back. And he couldn't do that when the finals still had to happen. After, he would tell her. He'd have to.

It would probably kill him not to.

He checked the clock on the wall. Six am. He yawned and stretched, hearing something sounding like the shower going off down the hall. It had to be her. Everyone else slept until at least nine or ten on a day they were exempt from school. With a quick smirk, he pulled out a second coffee cup. They'd have time to themselves before everyone woke up. That would be good, because today was going to be a big training day, with everyone off.

An acidic feeling rose in the bottom of his stomach. She'd been training them very hard lately. It had caused the question of just how long she was planning on staying to come back into his head. She wouldn't leave before they won the championships, would she? No, she couldn't. She was practically a member of the team, as much as she set herself apart. They'd all clicked. She wouldn't leave them. He'd do everything possible to stop it.

She came out a moment later clad in green 'swooshy' pants, as she called it, detailed by the line of gold going down the side, and a white shirt that came down into a v-neck. He gave her a once over, noting the messy wet hair and poured the cup of coffee, adding the cream and sugar, sliding it over to her.

She took a seat and he leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Thanks." He nodded and turned his attention to the window.

"What are we doing today?"

"I'm having a huge training session for the guys this afternoon, but other than that, I don't know. Maybe going to get stuff for the graduation party we're going to be forced to have."

He tilted his head in her direction. His friends had been talking about that at school. "_'We're?'_"

"Oh yeah," she said, nearly slapping herself in the forehead. "I was going to ask you. Since I know you hate to be in the spotlight unless you're winning something, want to have our parties together? I was planning on having mine the day after graduation."

"When's yours?" He asked, curious. He wouldn't agree until he knew just what was going on.

"On the seventeenth, it's a Friday."

His eyes widened. "Mine's the same day," he said, a bit downed by the fact.

"I know, all the kids in the district are having their graduation at the same place, so we're all jumbled together and it's just one event." She smiled and took another drink of the coffee. "So I will get to see you, in your glorious robe walking across the stage." She winked at him, and he rolled his eyes.

"I am not wearing one of _those_."

"Why not?"

"They're dresses."

"Quit being a whiner. It's in like two weeks, so just deal. You can wear the normal clothes underneath, and I'm sure they won't mind if you wear the scarf." She snaked an arm over his shoulders to his neck and began tugging gently upon the garment.

"You just like the scarf," he said, with a smirk and husky voice.

She shrugged. "It's not a crime that I'm aware of." She loosened it and moved over so she was in his lap. He seemed to shake with pleasure. He knew what was coming. It had been a clean twenty four since she had kissed him anywhere other than the cheek. And that just wasn't good with him. Her voice grew lower, and all together more seductive. "You always like it when I end up with it on."

He smirked, his mind sent into overdrive. Ahh yes, the day she ended up with his scarf on. He was feeling especially... aroused that day. It wasn't unlike them now that they had passed the stage of akward make out sessions, to end up with her next to him missing a shirt at two am. And this had all happened in less than two weeks. They were crazy, he'd admit that much-

"Damn you," he whispered, as she kissed his neck with such white hot, open mouthed kisses that it made his head spin. His hands were holding her at her sides, not to say that they didn't move as she nipped and sucked her way down him. He'd have to turn this back on her. Silently, he picked her up, causing her to question just what was going on. He set her down on top of the island's counter so she was just a bit higher up than he was. He pulled up her shirt just a bit and laid a kiss right above her navel.

"You're addicting," she responded, leaning down to kiss his lips. "And I love it."

Her legs locked around the small of his back, keeping him close to her. He loved it. He loved her, as much as it went unsaid. He'd never say it until things cleared up with the championships, as was mentioned before, but he touched her, and he kissed her like it. That was all he figured she needed. She responded the exact same way.

"Kai- someone? Is anyone awake?"

Ray.

_**RAY?**_

Both jumped. "Shit!" She let him pick her up and set her down on the floor. She reached up and fixed his tousled hair, sparing a quick second to plant a quick kiss on his lips.

The black haired boy rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat across from the duo at the island. "You two are up early," Ray said, surprised. He yawned.

Riley glanced over at Kai. He was staring down into his coffee blankly. "Yeah, I couldn't sleep so I took a shower. When I got out Kai was here. Just enjoying the silence."

Kai gave her a smirk. "Tyson and the runt are going to kill me one of these days, I swear." Ray caught the glance Kai was sending her.

"If your training doesn't first," Ray said. "Both of you have been vicious lately." Riley threw herself back as if to laugh, and Kai suddenly lurched toward her, catching her just before she hit the ground.

"Are you alright?" Kai asked, their noses touching. His hair fell in their faces, shielding them from Ray's view. His voice was genuinely concerned.

"These pants on hardwood stools equals slippery." She allowed him to set her on her feet again, and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, in clean sight of Ray, who choked on his coffee. "Thanks," she said, warmly.

"What the hell was that?"

Riley shrugged. "My way of thanks, got a problem with it?"

"Yes, you just kissed Kai, that's wrong on so many different levels."

Kai coughed a bit to hide his laugh. Riley smirked, and reached a hand hidden beneath the table onto his thigh. "Thanks for that assessment, but I think I'm good. I've got a good idea of right and wrong."

"Really?" Kai said, with a smirk. Ray looked entirely confused.

"What's going on here?"

Riley got up and walked to the doorway. "Yes really. When I'm right, I'm right, and when I'm wrong, it's even better." She winked and walked away.

Ray's mouth was hanging somewhere around his knees. "What the hell was that?" He asked, gawking at the doorway where the coach had just stood.

"Riley Phillips, I think." Kai smirked. That girl was insane.

"She was just flirting with you."

He deadpanned. "You think?"

xxxxxxxxxx

Riley waited for him to pick her up after her exam. He didn't have to, seeing as he didn't even have school. None of their friends did. But he still didn't wish for her to be alone. She heard the screeching of tires and a sudden sleek car skidding around the corner. It stopped quickly, screeching as its driver hit the breaks at a fast pace.

There were some cheering as the door unlocked, judging by the click heard. Riley took a few steps forward, and slid into the car, leaning back into the leather seats. However first, she had leaned across and kissed the teenage driver, shutting the door quickly as to keep both his identity and their kiss a secret.

"I passed Tyson and the others on my way here. Let's get the hell out of this place before we get caught."

"God, I feel like I just robbed a bank. But hello to you too." He slammed on the gas, not bothering to think twice about it. "You know, one of these days, they're going to find out."

He tensed up. "Would you like that day to be today?"

She froze. "No."

"And neither would I." He paused. "Beach, park, you pick."

"Somewhere no one will find us."

He smirked. Days like these were ones he lived for. "How's my dorm?"

"You have a dorm?"

"For when I can't tolerate Tyson. And when no one's around, or when I just need to get out. I don't stay there, but it's good to have one."

She smiled seductively. "Sure. Just stop at Wok-n-Roll. I ordered us some food."

"Good, glad someone's one step ahead of things."

She reached over and grabbed one of his hands, which he wasn't using to shift at the moment. "They'd be absolutely appauled to learn that you eat just as much as Tyson."

He pushed her hand down on the stick and shifted quickly, taking the next left to get to the take out restaurant. Riley ran in and grabbed the food, two bags of it to be exact.

She came back about ten minutes later, finding Kai leaning against the brick storefront. "Where'd you-"

"Movie store. I'm tired, figured we'd watch a movie."

Riley nodded. "What kind?"

"Adventure, historical, something like that."

"Ahh, you're a secret history buff, aren't you?" She smirked, and picked up the bag he held, switching it with his. He almost immediately dug into it, grabbing two egg rolls and handing one to her. She didn't have time to continue as the slate haired champ had pretty much stuffed it into her mouth.

He swallowed his current bite. "Let's go."

xxxxxxxxxx

She looked around, content with the place. It was rather comfortable in his dorm room, though one could tell it wasn't used much. Hardly at all really. "Lucky bastard, I thought you had room mates."

"Nah. I'm rich, remember?"

She smirked. "Oh yes. Now put in the movie, and if we fall asleep during it, we'll think up our excuse later for the guys." He smiled, pulling out some more food, and handing some to her, before leaning against the back board of his double bed. She snuggled right up next to him, eating her lo mein while he tackled a variety of chicken. The second he was done, his arm was wrapped around her shoulders, and a kiss was pressed to the top of her head.

Kai always knew the meaning of a good movie. He wasn't one to ruin it with kissing and insanity. Now, to him though, it didn't mean that he had to dismiss all forms of interaction between him and the girl next to him. She was currently passing in and out of consciousness, her head upon his chest, and her hands curled up below his head. He held her around the middle at some length, the perfect one, to watch her eyes be weighted down by sleep, but then suddenly open wide again, as if some invisible force had woken her up.

She looked up at him, and a smirk crossed his face though it was focused on the television. "You can sleep, if you'd like," He said, huskily. "I don't mind the warmth."

She smiled, and a small laugh escaped her. The curtains were drawn in the room, and rain poured against the window. "You know, you're absolutely nothing like I thought," she mused, closing her eyes and burying her face in his chest.

"How so?"

She yawned. "It's a good thing, don't worry."

"What do you mean?" He spoke quietly, realizing she was still fading into the abyss between dreams and reality. He held her closer, and she snuggled into him as though she were about to hibernate for the winter.

"Just don't change, okay?" He wasn't sure whether to count it as a victory or not, as the girl was currently asleep now, using him like a pillow and a teddy bear. He no longer felt embarassed of her presence, or of her kisses, or of any of this. To him, the defining line between best friends and more had been beyond crossed. He made sense of it now, and it sounded scandelous, even from his point of view, as a teenage male.

He was having a secret affair with the coach of their team. Yep, that just about summed things up, he realized.

He smirked, pulling out his cell phone from his pocket, flipping it open and typing something in. Nina would most definitely appreciative to hear this.

xxxxxxxxx

This was an interesting sight, Max realized, watching his two friends, one his captain and the other, his coach, receive their high school doplomas. Kai seemed rather unimpressed with the whole ordeal, though Riley's eyes held a spark in them that was undescribable. He had noted, along with an angry Hiro, that Kai's eyes had remained fixed on her when she walked across that stage.

"I swear, that boy is just asking for trouble. Why does he keep staring?"

"It's Kai," Tyson said, nudging his older brother. "He's just strange."

"He's staring at Riley, Tyson."

"Maybe they're having an affair," Hilary chimed slyly.

Both Tyson and Hiro's faces grew red with fury. "What?" Both jumped up in shock and rage.

"Stop! I was just kidding!"

The two Granger brothers calmed down, and Ray nudged Max. "She kissed him on the cheek the other day."

Max turned and stared at Ray. "Whoa."

"They were up having coffee at about six am. Both of them looked like they had been working out before or something."

Max smiled deviously. "Maybe they were..."

"Ew! That's wrong, Maxy, what the hell have you been thinking lately?"

"I'm a growing boy, I need somekind of outlet here," He said, with a smirk. "I don't have Hilary or Mariah, you know." Ray's cheeks tinged a reddish color.

"What about Mariam?" Ray gave him a meaningful glance.

"What about Ozuma dating her?"

Ray looked stunned. "Oh."

"Yeah. I'm not planning on being a rebound here," He said, rather viciously.

Ray slung an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Ahh, Maxy, we're growing up, aren't we?"

"Kai's graduating from high school, I'd have to say that the obvious answer would be yes!" Kenny piped up from behind them.

Ray and Max rubbed the backs of their heads. "Well, calm down. We're well aware of this. It was kinda a rhetorical question, Chief."

The genius looked horrified, given the face he made as he walked away, presumably to find Riley. "I guess we scared him off with our lack of proper grammar," Ray said, with a laugh.

"Hey now, Tiger-Dude, you know that jive tweaks the little Kenny-Dude out, be nicer, mkay, homies?"

The two team mates nodded, and turned their attention toward the stage. "Everyone's all about making nice, did you notice that?"

Max and Ray turned their head toward Tyson, who had made the last statement. "Yeah."

"Hey," Hilary butted in, "Maybe you _should_ stop being so nasty. We'll have to deal with it enough at the championships. Riley's said that the infinites are ruthless."

"I know she's grown up in Seattle, but how does she know so much?"

Hiro turned toward Max, a bit uneasy. "Just because she was one of their targets once. They're a brutal bunch, the infinite class. I swear. When you fight them, it's about twice as bad as when Tala fought Tyson for the first time. It's not pretty. At all."

"Are you saying that we could die?" Daichi asked.

"Possibly, if you aren't careful."

All watched in disbelief as the child's smile grew wider. "Cool!"

"Daichi!" The entire team chanted his name in absolute shock.

Tyson nearly jumped down his throat. "Dieing is not cool! We typically try to stay _out_ of those situations."

The group laughed. "You know, where are Kai and Riley?"

"Good point," Hilary said.

Kenny came flying back toward them. "Do you know where Kai and Riley are?"

"No, we were just wondering."

There was a sudden silence among them, and Tyson turned around, grabbing the blonde who had just walked behind him by the wrist. "Hey! You're that Nina chick!" Everyone sweatdropped at Tyson's statement. "Have you seen Kai and Riley anywhere?"

She froze. "Uh, no." With that, the girl turned and walked back in the direction she came from.

"That was wierd," Hilary commented.

"Yeah. I think she's hiding something."

xxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, in a room not too far away, Nina burst in, and slammed the door behind her.

"Holy shit, what the hell was that about?"

"They're looking for you, that's what. Now get your tongue out of her mouth, Kai and explain to them that you weren't out raping his childhood friend."

"But maybe he was." A sly look crossed her face, and Nina rolled her eyes. Kai smirked. She was naughtier now that she didn't give a damn.

"It's not rape if you accept, dipshit."

She grew serious. "Do you really think we're that trashy?"

"Don't make me answer that."

"Chill out. Go and tell them that I went outside for some fresh air and that Kai found me trying to escape or something. I'll meet them at Mr. Granger's car in five minutes, mkay?"

"Yeah. I'll tell them ten."

"Thanks." Kai waited for her to shut the door, before pouncing on her again. "We should've told her fifteen, you know."

"I don't know what to tell you. Take what you can get, I'll meet you in my room after everyone's asleep."

"Alright." He kissed her forehead. "That party tomorrow's going to screw things up."

Riley again grew serious, biting her lip. He caught the glance and immediately knew something was wrong.

"What?"

She blinked. "Oh, nothing, don't worry about it. I know what you mean though, that party is going to give us absolutely no alone time. Perhaps Hilary shall have to make up a fake incident or something. Her and Tala should be able to cover."

"You'd trust Tala to cover?"

"At this point, I'll take what I can get." She kissed his lips one final time before running a hand down the side of his face and walking away.

It was only about five minutes later that he realized she had successfully diverted his attention toward a different subject. Something was definitely wrong. She told him everything, didn't she?

xxxxxxxxxx

She shut the door behind her silently. It was early, three am. She didn't want to wake anyone, since they had been up until after midnight making sure the guests had gotten to a place for the night, or the airport, ect. She made sure that all the things were in place. There were a few strategic envelopes placed on the island in the kitchen, and another envelope, with an item placed in a place not to be revealed at this point in time.

The car that had been previously arranged awaited her entrance, which she did silently, waiting for the driver to shut the door for her. "The airport, Miss Philips?"

She nodded, biting her lip. "Yeah. Just go."

The chauffer got the hint that she didn't want to chicken out, so he should just do it. He hit the gas lightly, hearing her gasp at the sudden jolt and the forward movement.

With one final look at what had quickly become her home, she watched it fade into the background.

xxxxxxxxxx

Hilary stood in the doorway, watching the vehicle fade into the night. She hit up the kitchen and saw the envelopes laid out across the island counter. Each one had a name written on it in fancy cursive. She froze as she heard a yawn behind her, and a shirtless Kai stumbled into the kitchen, his frame illuminated by the hall light on behind him.

"What's going on?" He rubbed his eyes cautiously, meeting his eyes, and noting the shimmering saddeness in them. "What's wrong?"

"I-" She paused and closed her eyes. "I think she's leaving."

"What?"

Hilary saw his eyes widen in complete shock. "She said she wasn't until we're ready. None of us are," He protested. She smiled sadly.

"I think," she whispered, "that was her decision, don't you?"

He didn't say anything, and Hilary turned her back to him, picking up two of the envelopes. When she turned around, she was faced with an empty doorway.

"Kai? Where'd you-"

"If anyone wakes up, I needed some fresh air." With that, she watched as a fully dressed, completely alert Kai Hiwatari took the front sliding door at a run and ended up hood sliding over the top of his car.

She sighed. "Figures. How come she gets the sensibly reckless one?"

xxxxxxxxxx

With plane ticket in hand, the woman found her way to the terminal, taking a seat in one of the rows closest to the exit. Her thoughts were all over the place, and she smirked as the woman next to her said goodbye to her boyfriend. She was getting close to being like him, finding sadistic humor everywhere, yet this dimming bittersweetness seemed to grip her stomach.

"Where are you going, hon?"

Her head shot up and toward the direction of the girl to her left who had just said goodbye to her boyfriend. The woman was a few years older than her, probably in her early twenties. She smiled at Riley, who looked to her hands, then looked back and smiled. "Seattle."

"Oh, that's cool." She paused. "I'm getting off in Portland, the stop after Seattle. You got family there or-" The girl looked at her again, this time a bit more close. "You're that daughter of that CEO, right?"

Riley laughed. "Ex-daughter in her eyes, but yeah, that's me." With a smile she extended a hand. "Riley Philips."

"Renee Kurikua. So I'm guessing you're leaving your family behind then?"

"Yeah. I didn't tell them I was leaving. I hope they aren't mad, but I think they might be a bit ticked off."

The girls shook hands, and Riley relaxed into her chair, with a sigh. "Tired?"

"Didn't sleep at all. My kinda-ish boyfriend was with me, and we finally got a break when we drove his friends to the hotel. I got back around midnight, and then by the time I was through leaving everyone a note and packing, the car was there to take me here." She buried her head in her hands.

Renee smiled. "Kinda-ish, huh? As in best friend turned more than that?"

"Yeah." She ran a hand through her hair. "I love him so much, but his best friend is my childhood best friend. Once that hit the fan, things would be-"

"A mess." They both laughed. "I understand. You think he'll be mad?"

"Yeah. He'll be more hurt than anything though. I never told him that I was going, and as untouchable as he may seem, he's beyond sensitive on the inside."

"Aww, that sounds so sweet."

"I left them all a note, everyone back here that I hang out with and stuff, just to tell them that I did this to give them a little more to look at themselves. I'm a beyblade coach, and my trainees got to learn how to train themselves. I don't want them to rely on me forever, you know?"

"That's cool." She smirked. "My boyfriend's a novice blader. Love him to pieces, but he's no Tyson."

"Yeah. I get what you're saying."

"_Trip 3201 for Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon is now boarding. You have fifteen minutes before take off."_

Both girls got up. "Fifteen minutes, huh?" Rene commented. "Well, we should probably get going."

Riley bit her lip and stood up, yawning a bit. "Yeah, let's go." Together, both girls grabbed their bags, and turned away from the main part of the airport, instead going to the desk for their final check in before they went through the gate and finally onto the plane.

Renee went first, Riley following behind, at the end of a line of about thirty people waiting to get on the plane. The chatter suddenly grew louder, as people were speaking of their reasons and their destinations upon arrival in Seattle. A few moments later, the line had been cut in half.

"So, you ready to go- what the hell?" Renee stared at Riley incredulously.

"What?"

"There," she said, pointing. "Isn't that the Kai Hiwa-"

Riley dropped her passport, the ticket, her bag, everything, and turned around, sprinting in the direction Renee had pointed. "What are you doing here?" She asked, bent over, out of breath, her shock still present. "I didn't think-"

"What are you doing?" She reluctantly met his eyes. Oh yeah, she realized. He was sad. This was bad. Now she knew she was going to cry. Just because.

"You're just going to leave, and that.. that's it?"

She shook her head vigorously. "Of course not. How'd you know I was here?"

"Hilary and I woke up when you left. What are you doing?"

"Dickenson asked me to come back to Seattle and set up for the finals. And go through that name change thing we talked about."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He had her pinned up against the wall, his eyes blazing with a wild array of emotions that had never been revealed to her publically before.

She sighed. "Kai, would you have seriously been okay with this?"

"This was why you were so upset Friday night."

"Of course it was! Do you think I really want to leave you?" She instantly covered her mouth. That had definitely slipped. Somewhere in her mind she had a feeling that last word was going to get her somewhere.

"I- I don't..."

She smiled. "Look at me." With her hand, she guided his face up to meet her eyes. "You're ready. You're going to beat him. I promise you. Someone's got to turn the tides here, and I swear on my life that it will be you."

"I haven't even mastered omegacide all the way-"

"You're an infinite, through and through, and I couldn't be any more proud of you. You're not supposed to win directly with omegacide." She traced the side of his face with her hand, while he stared at her curiously. "You've got to do it your way, not mine."

"This is what you've been preparing me for, isn't it?" She nodded. "But does this... us mean nothing to you?"

She shook her head, tears now coming to her eyes. "Don't you _ever_ think that."

He brought her into his arms, and kissed her, for what he thought potentially could be the last time. She tightened his grip on him as much as humanly possible, without choking him. "You're still as addicting as ever."

She smiled sadly. "I'll keep an eye on you, don't worry. That's what I've got Dickenson for. And-"

"Don't worry, I'll keep them in line."

"I never doubted that. Just don't get too mad at Tyson when he spazzes today."

"I don't want to talk to any of them today."

"Call Nina."

"That's a given." He smirked at her and pulled her into a hug. "I'll fucking miss you."

"I'll miss you too, don't worry about that either."

"I wasn't. I'm hard not to miss."

She laughed. "Look me up in Seattle. I shouldn't be too hard to find. Just look for a killer beybattle."

"That's a given too." He dropped hands to hers, and held them tightly. "Listen, I- thanks."

With a smile, she nodded. "And thank you too. Maybe next year I'll be training to compete." She met his eyes again, and this time, she swore she saw something, if at all anything, in his orbs. Something unusual, and definitely not like Kai at all. She reached out and hugged him again. "Please don't forget me."

"That'll be hard to do." He held her again, looking at the dwindling line of people in line checking in. "You have to go."

"Yeah. Now you made me not want to."

"That's not a bad thing. In a way." With a sigh, he guided her back to her things, which still lay scattered across the terminal floor. "Go on."

"Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Icicle."

"Love you too, Rylily," He said sarcastically.

She laughed. "That's also a given." He stared at her, completely shocked. "And right back atcha."

That being taken care of, she threw her boarding pass at the attendant, who stamped it, and with a final wave and blow of a kiss, she was gone.

And he wasn't sure just how to feel.

xxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe her!" Tyson slammed the cup of orange juice down onto the table, watching the slightly acidic drink slosh onto the table, and wetting a corner of Hilary's perfectly clean napkin. "We aren't ready for any of this!"

"You're going to have to be, little bro, she's not coming back."

Tyson jabbed a finger into his brother's chest. "I'm sure you knew about it, you know everything."

Hiro shoved his brother back a little bit. "Actually, I had no idea. I'm just as shocked as you are, I just have a bit of a different reaction to it." The boy's voice softened. "She wouldn't do this if you weren't ready."

"But still, I do think it's kind of wierd that she didn't tell us," Hilary pointed out.

Kenny looked up from his laptop. "Do you think we'd let her go?"

"No," The rest of the room's occupants answered, honestly. "We'd stop her from getting on that plane."

Kenny nodded. "She's smart, even if she's sneaky." He flipped over the envelope with his name on it, playing with the seal he had torn in haste two hours prior. Tyson's envelope was next to him, or rather, the fragments of what used to be his envelope. It hadn't fared well in the boy's rage.

Max smiled. "She said that we'd be ready if we stopped thinking and started going back to the crudest, roughest style we've got. Something fluid enough to take everyone out. Not thinking, just doing." The boy looked up and smiled. "Tyson, you and Daichi should be fine. You've both got no brain to use."

"HEY! That's not nice!"

Hilary and Ray laughed. "It's true though," they chorused.

"I heard that, you know," Daichi said, from the other side of the room.

"That was the point," Max called out.

"Wanna go?"

"Why not!"

"Fine!" Suddenly, a beyblade was sent flying into the kitchen, and Max launched his, shattering the glass mug that had held Hilary's coffee.

"What's your problem! I should shoot you!" Hilary yelled, flipping out and using every scrap of napkin in the room to clean up the glass and the mess. "You could've taken someone's eye out!"

Daichi huffed as Max ran out of the room, following the mad streak of green that was his beyblade. "Chill out old lady!"

"I'll give you old lady!" She stomped after the two of them, screeching at the top of her lungs as they became oblivious to her and more focused upon the beydish.

Ray sighed and looked to Kenny. "Hey Chief, have you seen Kai? I'm sure old sourpuss will be able to tell us we don't need her."

The genius shook his head. "No, I haven't. He's probably pondering over what style of training to put you guys through with Riley gone." Ray nodded, getting up.

"I'll go check."

Hilary reappeared in the doorway. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Why not?"

Tyson eyed her quizzically. "Yeah, what's going on?"

Hilary held up both hands, defensively. "He woke up last night when we heard a car door slam. We just missed her. At least I think we did. I think he went to the airport to question her, but I'm not sure."

Hiro's eyebrows raised and then lowered. His suspicions recently about them spending more than a lot of time together seemed to be dead on. "Maybe it's just me," the coach said cautiously, "But doesn't it seem like suddenly those two ended up friends?"

"Riley couldn't stand him," Tyson interjected. Hiro overlooked him.

"Seriously, Hilary, Ray, what do you think?"

Ray shrugged, his mind outlining that day she had kissed his cheek and done some outright flirting with the captain.

"I think," Hilary said, rather seriously, "That he has a thing for her."

_"You love her, don't you?"_

_Kai shrugged. "I don't know."_

_"Have you kissed her?"_

_"Could you get any more annoying?"_

_"I know what that means," she said, giving him a smirk. "I'm a girl." Her hands were now on her hips. "How many times?"_

_"Three," he mumbled, almost too quietly for her to hear._

_She giggled. "See, she wouldn't admit it. Said that it wasn't my business."_

_"It isn't."_

"Hello, Earth to Hilary, can we get a reason here?" Tyson was passing his hand in front of her face. She shook her head, snapping out of her flashback.

She sighed. "First he practically hates her, then he practically killed her, suddenly he starts listening to her, and I think by the time he asked her to prom, they were friends, or possibly beyond that."

"Riley couldn't stand him," Tyson responded. "She tolerated him because he's our friend."

"Not really," Max said, emerging from outside with a smile on his face. Daichi was outside yelling about losing to the blonde American. "I think they were friends."

Hilary nodded. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what his problem is. He's probably upset that she's gone."

Hiro and Tyson began cracking up, while Hilary frowned, turning on her heel. "I'm going to check up on him."

The girl quietly padded to Kai's door, laying a soft knock upon it, and hearing a grunt, meaning, 'tell me who the hell you are or get lost.'

"It's Hilary," she said, calmly. The rest of the group had remained in the kitchen, as the captain's senses had seemed to intensify. He knew if they were listening in.

"Come in."

She slid open the door, to find him in front of the computer, keyboard moved as though it was in a lot of use, and an instant message screen opened up on the monitor. "What's up?"

The computer beeped and a window on it blinked.

"Nothing," he responded hollowly, spinning a red rose between his hands.

She sighed. "That's a lie if I ever did hear one. Now what the hell is going on with you?" She kept her voice low. "You went to see her before she left and I know it." He stopped typing and turned around in the swivel chair.

"And?" She sighed. He was stubborn.

Rolling her eyes she sat down on the bed. "You're talking to Nina, aren't you?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

She sighed. "Geez, the guys are all out there freaking out about how she hated you, at least I'm defending her."

He paused again. "She doesn't hate me, I know that much."

"She loves you?"

He sighed. "I don't know, what the hell are you here for?"

"You haven't come out here since you got back, I thought you might like to read this before Tyson and Hiro got their paws all over it." She pulled something out of her pocket. It was an envelope, like the others left for them on the island in the kitchen. "I swiped it before the rest of them got up, and no, I didn't read it."

"She already left me one in my room, so I don't know where that one came from."

"Don't you think it would be a little wierd that everyone else was left with a note goodbye, except you, and yours would be in your room? Yeah, I'm almost positive that wouldn't go over well. Just take it, okay?"

He statched the envelope from her hands, and she waited for him to open it. First, however, he typed into the computer. "Tell her I say hi," Hilary chimed, from behind him. With an annoyed grunt, he typed as she had asked.

A response suiting the occasion came back, asking the girl how she was doing, and Kai moved aside to let the brunette use the computer while he slit the top of the envelope with his finger.

Inside, in flowing cursive, was a letter unlike the one she had left in his room, telling him not to worry about her. This one was personal. Very, if he could tell anything by the way she wrote.

_Hey,_

_I know that other little note was kind of shitty, forgive me for that, but I had to make sure you didn't go kill anyone. I wanted to tell you Dickenson was sending me back, but judging from our circomstances, that just wouldn't be a good idea. You're too damn persuasive, and trust me, that's a good thing._

_By the time you finally decide to read this, I'll be somewhere probably remotely close to Barcelona, or Seattle depending on how fast I can become a Dickenson when we stop in Seattle for a pit stop on our way around(yes, we're taking the long way). Anyway, for sake of your ego and pride, I will be brutally honest. I don't want to leave, I'd rather stay with you. And them. But mostly you. I don't even know what to call our relationship. It's up there somewhere, and it's kinda crazy, but no one ever said we were that sane, now did they? Anyway, in response to that comment you made a few months ago at the park, about how it didn't mean anything, I'd beg to differ. It meant a hell of a lot. And we both know it._

_And, since this is just about the longest goodbye I've ever written, guess what, I'm not done yet. I still haven't gotten to the part where I'm inspirational.(Insert laugh or something here) Anywho, you better beat Tyson. See, I can be so nice, can't I? I'm just kidding. I know you will. That little pipsqueak's got nothing on you, believe me, I've put his ass through the paces. And don't worry about omegacide either. It'll come, just keep doing what you're doing. Believe it or not, I haven't really been doing anything except giving you some competition. You're doing it on your own, contrary to popular belief._

_So, when you're in Seattle, look me up. I'll be around, and of course, I'll be at the finals to watch you take everyone out. If anyone can turn the tides, that person'd be you. I know it._

_Rylily_

_psst. For sake of me not saying this anywhere else, and for the sake of this itty bitty voice in my head that keeps screaming at me to say this, I'll just go for it._

_I love you._

The letter dropped completely out of his hands as soon as his eyes grazed the bottom portion.

"What? What's wrong?" Hilary watched him, concern flickering over her features. She told Nina to hold on. "Kai? Are you okay?"

He scrambled to grab the letter, picking it up and rereading it. "Fine." He looked up at her with a smirk. "You done talking to Nina?"

"She said she loves you, didn't she?"

Kai gave her a blank look, and she seemed to get the message loud and clear. His cell phone rang, and he picked it up quickly, checking the name on the top of it. "Nina, hi."

Hilary could hear the voice from the speaker on the phone. _"What's wrong?"_

"Nothing."

_"Did she tell you?"_

"I'll assume that we're talking about the same thing here and say yes."

There was a screech, and both occupants of the Russian's bedroom covered their ears. _"Finally! After what you said happened at the airport, I kind of figured this would happen."_

Hilary sent him a sly smile and he covered the phone for a moment. "You cannot tell anyone about this. If you do, I'll tell everyone about your more than fascination with the bottomless pit." She froze and nodded. That was something she'd have to agree on. Kai could be vicious.

They shook hands and he nodded. "Now get lost, cheerleader."

"Fine, be like that!" He smirked and she rolled her eyes. "Friggen glacier..."

xxxxxxxxxx

_woot! chapter nine! You know, I've noticed that all of a sudden, my chapters are like fifteen pages long...this one's eighteen. Strange. I guess my novel writing sense is taking over from... somewhere I never knew I had it or something... anywho, review, and the next chapter will be along soon!_

_x3 Distant Storm_


	11. Championships, Here We Come!

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I only own my OCs, and the plot line.

Summary:The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Ten: Championships, Here We Come!

Distant Storm

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He launched the beyblade again. So far, his ideas had paid off. "Dranzer, let's go!"

The phoenix emerged in an eerie array of light and color, releasing a fierce, piercing cry. He watched, smirking with satisfaction.

"Perfect."

_Aren't I always?_

He rolled his eyes. "Of course."

_Good answer for someone who doesn't wish to become charcoal._

Recalling his beyblade, he quickly left the park, heading toward the B.B.A. building. He rushed into the chairman's office, seeing as they were leaving for Barcelona two days from the current one. It was time, he figured, to settle everything that had been started.

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She leaned back comfortably, obviously at peace. "It's just a warning, Rafe'. He got good fast."

The man looked unimpressed. "You say that, but how would you know?"

"I trained him."

"Traitor."

She had a cocky smirk on her face. Rafael always knew she was a brat."That's been established."

"Amanda's going to cream him."

"She's not in the tournament."

It was his turn to chuckle knowingly. He crossed his arms over the back of the chair, as he was sitting on it backwards. "Wrong."

A pair of crimson eyes grew huge. After a moment of shock, she pulled her laptop from her side to her lap, and turned it on. Within minutes she was in the B.B.A. database. "Late entry? What the frig? He had better have come up with a good attack. She'll call him out."

"For sure. Seeing as you defended the brat."

"He's not a brat."

Rafael shook his head. "Don't act so in love with him. If you want him to beat Amanda's team, you have to harden him up."

"For God's sake, he's an icicle!"

"Good. But you might want to make him sub zero, or at least test his abilities before he goes up against her. He's never battled an infinite as one himself."

"See, and I thought you'd be the guy to kill me for letting him in the 'inter-circle.'" His eyes hardened.

"It's only a matter of time before his team mates are ready. With the way you train people, they're probably a good match for any basic leveled infinite. The five founders, now that's a different story."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Well duh, we kick ass."

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Dickenson caught Kai staring out the window, absentmindedly stroking Dranzer's blade with his thumb. Ever since Riley had left, he'd become a lot less with it, phasing out, not focusing, the like. When he got caught, he shrugged it off, and the rest of the gang chalked it up to his usual distance.

"Well now," The chairman began, catching most of the group's attention, "A young woman, by the name of Amanda-" Kai's head snapped to attention on Dickenson- "recently entered herself as a late entry to the championships."

Kai, if he was surprised, he had to be floored. One could actually tell. His mouth, for probably the first time in his life, had fallen just a bit, to emphasize this fact. "She didn't."

Hiro eyed him suspiciously. "And what do you know about Amanda?" He demanded, rather viciously.

"That you don't want to get in her way," Kai retorted sourly.

Max gave him a curious glance. "Bad experience?"

"Something like that." Hiro glanced back at Kai. He needed answers. And he wasn't going to wait around for them. As soon as this meeting was over, he was going to have a talk with a certain Russian. Things needed to be settled.

"Anyway," Dickenson said, now that he had everyone's attention, "I'm sure Riley told you about the origins of infinity." The gang nodded. "Amanda is one of the original five. She is the leader of Seattle's toughest gang, the one Riley had a run in with a while back." He paused so they could collect the info. "She is one of the toughest beybladers you will ever face, and I want to advise you that if and when you come in contact with her, take great care. People have died fighting her." Kai's fists tightened.

After a few other pointers, reminders, and motivational speeches, the gang was dismissed. "Kai," The chairman called. "I want to talk to you."

Hiro pointedly glared at the captain before marching away with the rest of the group. "Yes?"

The chairman motioned for him to sit down, which he did, back in the seat he was previously in. "I've been talking to Riley a lot."

"And?" The boy wasn't quite sure what to expect here, but he'd have to be careful. He knew that she wouldn't say anything about his training. He'd get killed for it and so would she.

"She said that she thinks you'll beat Tyson, but he's not the one I'm worried about. Amanda-"

"Will want to fight me. I figured."

"That fight will not be clean, no matter which way you go about it."

"I know that too."

"If she tries anything-"

"No. I want to fight her."

"What?" The chairman looked aghast. "Are you insane? She could kill you!"

"I'm five times as strong as I was last year."

"And that still might not be enough. I know you've tried Omegacide, and you nearly killed Riley! You could kill yourself if you attempt it again." He appeared angry, while Kai tried his best to keep himself under control.

"Look, I know I can beat her. It might be tough, but I'll take that chance. Riley pushed me twice as hard as she ever pushed the others. I know her secret. And she knows mine."

Dickenson nodded knowingly. "She believes in you, I can tell. I just think you're getting ahead of yourselves. What about the regular infinites?"

"I'll deal with them when the time comes. When we're in Barcelona, you can assess just how much I've aquired from your daughter." He paused. "She told me that you asked her to take your last name."

His mouth opened and closed. "What else did she tell you?"

"Just about everything."

"When?"

"You know, I really don't have time for this." Kai got up and walked away. For as brilliant as Dickenson was, he was completely oblivious. "Some people never learn."

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_"I'm Brad Best, coming to you live with AJ Topper, in the preliminary rounds of the World Championships, starting here, in Barcelona!"_

_"Yeah, AJ Topper here! This year's going to to be insane, isn't it Brad?"_

_"You can say that again."_

_"This year's going to be in-"_

_"Anyway, this time around, the competition doors have been opened to a new, higher rank of beybladers. If you thought that the Tyson versus Brooklyn of last year was intense, just wait. Have we got a show for you."_

The two announcers sat high up, in their own press box, next to the enclosed one belonging to the B.B.A. Chairman. _"This year, the infinite class of beybladers is going to let it rip just a little bit faster than most of our spectators are used to. So be careful. You don't want to get hit by one of those."_

_"Yeah, AJ, those are definitely lethal if you get hit by one. Sharper than diamonds."_

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Kai's eyes scanned his opponents, none of whom seemed to pose much of a threat. Things were no different than usual, he figured. He'd go out, leave his spectators and opponent in awe and steal a quick victory. No one would wonder. It was his nature, was it not?

_"Bladers to the dish!"_ Kai waited for his opponent, a boy with long green hair that ended around his mid back. He had a few freckles and dark brown eyes that watched him carefully. Jazzman looked to the two opponents, who each nodded to prove that they were indeed ready to begin.

From behind them, Kenny's fingers navigated their way around the keyboard as Dizzi rattled off stats to him, expressing the need for Kai to express caution, as the boy was indeed an infinite. He might be younger, but for sure, he was a force to be reconed with.

_"Three... two... one-"_

"Let it rip!" Kai drew his beyblade out in front of him, sparing the motions that were used by Riley for the time being. They would be picked up when it counted, but he did the mini-motion, as she called it, flipping the launcher over during launch and sending the blader out of the dish within seconds. He recalled Dranzer, received a standing ovation, and returned to the bench.

"Anyone who can beat their opponent faster than I beat mine, I'll give you twenty bucks."

The other four bladers, two techs, and one older brother's mouth dropped. Hiro glared at him. "What the hell did she teach you?"

"No one taught me anything. I've been training. If they trained as hard as I did, they could do that too."

Hiro stood over him, but whispered in Kai's ear, "You know her secret, and I know that launch was hers. Do not make me tell the others."

"I told you," Kai said, shoving him away, "I don't like you, and you don't like me. If you stay away from me, we'll all be fine. And as far as the launch goes, I've got my own way of running things. I don't need yours or anyone else's."

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"This isn't adding up," Kenny said to himself. Something was different. They were heading to Ottawa on the red-eye flight out of Barcelona. And in the process of their first infinite battles, Kai had hit the ground running. Or spinning, in this case. It didn't really add up. Tyson, dare the geek say it, really didn't have anything on Kai. The champ had actually lost a battle.

He had gone through the statistics almost a hundred times over. Kai had, over the course of their training, never been as strong as he currently was. The phoenix was one was to rise up to challenges, but not to such an extent that he had not landed a beyblade in the beydish the entire tournament. All of his battles- erm, victories, had lasted no longer than fifteen seconds- depending on the chatter.

The Chief looked over at the captain, whose eyes were shut, meaning that he was most likely asleep, or at least resting. He typed on to Dizzi, who seemed just as perplexed. Kai was always a mystery, but this one was the strangest yet. Since when did ol' sourpuss suddenly demonstrate infinite-leveled power that no one knew about? If he was that strong already, he would've taken out Tyson when given the chance. This meant that he got strong fast. And Kenny had no idea how. He hoped it would be the right way, a way to be revealed in time.

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Thanks for reading, and please review. I know this wasn't very good, but it's setting us up for what's to come! So until next time, all comments and alerts adds are appreciated(it's nice to get e-mails about reviews, but adds in the alerts and fave columns are great too)!

Love ya! Distant Storm


	12. A Little Competition

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I only own my OCs, and the plot line.

Summary:The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Eleven: A Little Competition

Distant Storm

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_"Flight 106A has just arrived. Passengers, please deport the plane and retrieve your luggage from the appointed racks."_

Riley Phillips - er - Dickenson rolled her eyes, dodging her way through the masses of people looking either for someone, or for their luggage. She grasped her black and silver suitcases, towing them with strong muscles and a bit of determination. The time change was massive, she figured that she could use a little more sleep, since planes were not the most relaxing place to catch some z's.

Her cherry eyes met those of her 'father,' who had been waiting. He smiled at her, taking the smaller of her two bags, since she was obviously - noticibly - stronger than the B.B.A.'s chairman. He led her to a limo, one of an almost invisible black color amongst the New York early morning hours.

"What time is it?" Riley asked, yawning. "I know it was morning when I left Italy, but..."

"Four-thirty, am," He said, taking a sip of an expensively brewed colombian coffee. "You've got to be exhausted." She nodded, leaning against the old man's shoulder, her eyes closed, as she drifted off. When the car came to a stop and the ignition was turned off, she stirred again, following Stanley Dickenson to her hotel room. He motioned to her bed, pulling back the sheets of the bed.

"Thanks," she said, kicking off her shoes and throwing her bags out of the doorway. "Wake me up at eleven, or send someone," she said drowzily. "I'll probably be a beast, but tell whoever it is to yell at me... bring coffee," She finished, pulling up the sheets over her still dressed body."

The man smiled at her. "Of course, Riley," he said, in a gentle voice. "Sleep well," he said softly, knowing full well that she was already asleep. He shut the door, leaving the card key on her nightstand before returning to his suite nextdoor. He knew that he could catch about three or four more hours of sleep before his busy day would begin, and decided take what he could get. There were rumors circulating already about the viciousness of the bladers in Ottawa, Canada. He just hoped that nothing would prove to be too much for his team.

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Ottawa was a nice city, Kai'd give it that. But nothing else, however, since he was well aware that he had to kick his team in the ass several times to get them to come out on top. He looked up at the billboard in the distance, advertising in both French and English of the tournament, which would begin tomorrow at noon. All his team had to do was gain enough winning points to place in the top three to advance to Seattle, where the real competition would begin.

He also had to be on the lookout for Rafael, Westley, and especially Amanda, all of whom would be looking to fight the "traitor's" newest prospect. The other infinites were supposed to be hard, but not as hard. He hoped. Well, not hoped, but with Kai, you know what he means.

In the distance, Kai saw the light change and traffic begin to speed toward him. Amongst that traffic was a limo, with the window down, taking in the warm air. A woman in sun glasses gave him a hard look, then lowered her sunglasses for only an instant. He recognized her immediately.

_Amanda_.

That girl would be going down. By his hands. After all, Kai had a score to settle. Only two people had ever defeated him and gone unavenged(that he felt needed avenging), and those two people would be taken down this year. It was his time, and no one else's.

He shoved his hands down into his pocket, continuing the last three blocks to his hotel. Meanwhile, someone else was heading his direction. This someone was eyeing him competitively. "Well, well, well," The blue-eyed red head said, raising his eyes to meet that of his former team mate. "Look who we have here."

"Tala." He paused, looking at the teen. "Why are you here?"

"My retarded team mates forgot to send in the paperwork, so I can't help you out this time around."

Kai smirked. "I don't need _your_ help with this, Tala. I'm perfectly capable."

"Speaking of that," Tala said, turning around to follow Kai back to the hotel. "Where is your girlfriend?"

"I don't know."

Tala spit out his gum after a small caughing fit. "Excuse me?"

"I told you."

"You didn't even deny it, you know, that you two are-" He glared at Kai, who seemed passive, yet oddly content. An amused smile toyed with his usually tight laced lips. "Oh great, you are even more hung up on her than I thought."

Kai saved him an argument by remaining silent. Tala decided that this was no fun. He couldn't wait until all this shit was over and things went back to normal. Well, at least a point in time where he wouldn't have to deal with a stupid lover-boy.

Continuing on, Tala left him in front of the hotel. When he rounded the corner, he passed a familiar face, who handed him a stack of bills. "See," he said, "I told you he had no idea you were here."

She shrugged, straightening her white rimmed glasses whose lenses were tinted a deep amber color to hid her vivid crimson eyes. "Well, I can't hardly take any chances. If he sees me outside of battle, he's gonna depend on me. We can't have that, now can we?"

"Well you told him you loved him."

"Oh God," She said, punching him in the stomach. "Who the frig told you that?"

Tala coughed, sputtering for air. "Some Rafael kid. Frig, my stomach."

"Great," she said, pulling Tala up to his full height. "Now get your ass out of here so I can trounce his. He'll need an ego-deflation after destroying however many beybladers he's recently took out."

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Max stared at the teams emerging from the opposite doors. This was going to be a pretty crazy step in their road to the top. Some of these beybladers looked harmless, but yet, their faces and their eyes screamed of an impending experience that would not be pleasant for the challenger. When he looked back at the rest of his team mates, they all revealed a slight hint of worry.

Except for Kai, whose posture was staight and his eyes were void of all fear. He looked determined to defeat any and all beybladers in his way. Strangely enough, he had stepped up rather easily to fill the voids from leaving home, as well as the absence of Riley. All of them noticed his behavior's shift, but none of them had chosen to say much. It truly was not worth it.

"Hey," Jazzman said, jumping up to the dish, "you guys, pick someone and get 'em up here. We don't have forever."

Everyone looked around. These matches were one-on-one, instead of the usual three-on-three for a two out of three victory. Two teams were chosen at random, then they each decided who to pit up against the other team's person.

"Ray," Kai commanded, pointing toward the dish. "Go."

The tiger stared at him in disbelief. Usually Max was the starter, and this was only the first match. "Oh.. okay," he said, marching proudly up to the dish. His opponent seemed to sense his aura of unsureness.

Their battle commenced quickly, with Ray's beyblade being thrown up in the air by the sheer waves emitted by his opponent's launch. The boy opposite the Chinese champion smirked knowingly, feeling as though the upperhand was already his. "C'mon Ray!" Tyson yelled. "You've gotta get this guy."

After a few minutes of overwhelming attacks, the boys could sense Ray's anger building. It took a lot to thoroughly piss off the Chinese boy, but once the line was crossed, Ray became good for one very powerful attack and some irrational decisions. Kai crossed his arms over his chest.

"No! Drigger-"

"Ray," Kai said in a warning tone. "Take a breath. He's using your frustration against you."

There was a snort from the platform Mr. Dickenson stood on. Beside the B.B.A.'s 'main man,' stood a few people. Kai immediately saw Riley and Amanda on opposite sides of each other, with Rafael and Westley between them. Wait a second... Riley?

The rest of the group had seen her too, but she stood silently, offering no advice. "Yo, Tys, what's the deal with the nasty looking bladers up there with Riley and Mr. D?"

Ray's opponent looked over his shoulder for a moment. "Oh," he said simply. "They're here to make sure no one messes with their _people_, if you know what I mean. They've all got their hands in this. They need certain people to win to get the control of the circuits. Anyway, you're finished!Likura, spiral blade attack!"

Without the utmost respect for Ray's beyblade, the attack diced up the entire core, salvaging only the small square of bit chip that contained Drigger. The boy gathered up the pieces of his blade as his opponent smirked, leaving the audience with quite an interesting discussion. Would the champions actually make it that far?

Hilary scoffed in disgust. "There's gotta be something against the rules in the way he-"

A sneer from above, where Mr. Dickenson stood stopped her. "Amanda," Kai said, in a low growl.

"Hiwatari. Just wait until we meet in the arena. Riley won't be able to bail you out now." She paused, looking at Hilary as if she were scum of the earth. The girl examined her fingernails before looking down at the tech again. "You know, sweetheart, there was nothing illegal about that attack."

"Heated attack rings," Kai said, examining the remains of Ray's beyblade.

Amanda smirked. "Well now, I suppose I'm next. Hope to God you don't face me until the end, Hiwatari. You'll regret being born."

Kai laughed. "I suppose someone like you already does, so it won't take my victory to instill that in you."

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Tyson stared at him in anger. "_Bail you out_? Why weren't we made aware of this?"

Ray, Hilary, and Kenny kept an ear out, though they were huddled in the corner, trying to build a stronger beyblade for the distraught Chinese teen who could not grasp the loss as he usually could. Hiro looked skeptic, though he was damn sure that he had the entire ordeal figured out.

"That's how you knew Omegacide, wasn't it?"

Kai shrugged. "I'd watch how you talk," the captain sneered. "You wouldn't want to slip up."

"Whoa," Max said. "That Omegacide thing, what does that have to do with Riley bailing Kai out?"

"You tried to fight Amanda, didn't you?!" Tyson said suddenly. "She saved your ass, didn't she?"

"She wasn't looking for me anyway."

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Kai, that's not the point. We still have no idea if we're-"

"I'm ready." Kai said, leaning back against the lockers. "Perhaps if the rest of you would get your heads in the game, you wouldn't have this problem."

Hilary looked over at Kai, then at the angry Granger brothers. "Hey, Tyson, babe, come here."

The Japanese champion did as told, while Hiro refused to quit. "She never told me that she had to bail you out," He said, growing beyond angry. "Why would you not say something? Obviously you've seen her battle."

"Yeah, and if you don't shut up, we'll battle right here," Kai said, obviously sick of the ninja. "I have all the time in the world." Upon this, he stalked out, leaving his scarf to billow in a non existant wind.

Hiro immediately threw a duffel bag upon the ground and wasted no time to enter the bathroom. The rest of the team looked at each other. "Jin," they said, rolling their eyes. Perhaps Kai and Hiro would solve things, once and for all.

Meanwhile, from beneath Hilary, Tyson was looking a bit perplexed. His mind was racing. Something was definitely up with Riley. From today, when she was standing up there with those creepy beybladers, to now when the whole argument began. He wanted to find out, but he had a strange feeling that the contents of his brother's battle would not be divulged.

"You know," Hilary said sweetly, "Hiro's just protective of her."

Kenny nodded, but Max spoke. "You know, I bet that Riley's a lot stronger than we think. Were any of you able to beat her?"

They shook their heads. Ray fidgeted with his attack ring, "But, you know, it did seem to get easier. Maybe she's borderline infinite?"

There was laughter from the doorframe, where Jin of the Gale stood. "C'mon," he said simply. "Riley, an infinite? She's just got experience with them. There's ways to beat an infinite when you aren't one, they're just a bit more involved." The man walked away, his beyblade at the ready.

Behind him, Tyson seemed to smirk. Kai was going to get a run for his money. Their team wasn't the only group training with Riley. Hiro had been training with her too.

The Chief looked to his computer screen. Dizzi decided to speak her mind. "Yeah, well guys, if you ask me, that girl's a lot more talented than she lets on."

"Does she even have a bit beast?" Max asked.

Dizzi laughed. "Oh, that girl's got a bit beast." She snickered. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, 'cause that girl's aura reeks of bit beast from all the way over here. And she's still in that arena."

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Hiro glared at Kai. He felt angry. Kai was way out of line. Not to mention that that little Russian rich boy knew far too much. Whether Riley told him or not, it didn't matter. That boy nearly killed his brother when he tried omegacide! Not to mention all the side switching in the past. While he had switched sides before, he was not as quick to do so.

"Well, well. I'm surprised you showed up," Kai said, a sneer on his face.

Blades were launched a moment later. They collided in sparks, and almost immediately Hiro realized that this type of battle was nearly identical to fighting Riley. There was one change in the battle style, however, and that was the eerie blue glow of his beyblade.

Jin rolled his eyes as he narrowly avoided an attack. "Metal Drigger! Take him down!"

"Dranzer, Volcano!"

"What, didn't you think up the clincher for your attack?" This arms were lowered to his hips. "Or were all the good names taken?"

"Omega-"

"Don't you fucking use that on me, thief!" Hiro's beyblade emitted sparks of lightning. The sky above became dark and hazy, low rumbles of thunder heard in the distance.

Taking a deep breath, Kai focused. It was a refreshing feeling, being in a beybattle of both wits and emotion. He knew that Jin... Hiro... whoever he felt like refering himself as- well, his opponent was overprotective of Riley. What Jin didn't know, was that Kai would do everything in his power to keep her from being hurt at all. So technically, where it counted, they were on the same side.

Their beyblades clashed again, bits and pieces of each littered around the areas where they collided and rubbed against each other. Kai looked up at Jin. "I'm not stealing her moves," he said evenly.

"Prove it to me," Jin said, his beyblade spinning faster to punctuate his statement. "Or has the almighty Kai learned he is nothing without someone else's attacks?"

Silence reigned over them for the next segment of their battle. The only sound was that of beyblades colliding, aggravated sighs, grunts, and the occasional cracking of knuckles as either side prepared an attack. Brown and violet eyes met, and the wind around them created a vortex. Kai noted Jin's smirk.

He thought he was going to win with just this?

"Dranzer!" The attack was left unsaid, as the area around the was dyed a bright blue, rich in hue. Hiro saw it coat everything, from himself to Kai, to the dish... even his beyblade was stained this color. From Kai's beyblade, a blue phoenix arose.

"I thought it was red," Jin mumbled.

Kai smirked. "Meet your maker, Jin! Attack!" The phoenix spiraled skyward, only to come down at Hiro's beyblade as an arrow of blue light. The resulting rumble was not thunder. It was the ground cracking beneath them.

Both jumped back as their battlefield was dismantled. Kai withdrew Dranzer, sparing no second glance to his opponent.

"You are an infinite, aren't you?" Jin asked to his retreating back. "That wasn't a stolen move-"

"Look, we both know we care about her," Kai said, against his better judgement. "And we both know that I didn't get this good on my own. So leave it be."

"She's practically my baby sister, for God's sake," Jin yelled after him.

Kai smirked. "I went to prom with her," he said quietly, not sticking around long enough to find out if Hiro heard.

Although, judging by the shocked expression on his face from when Kai said he cared about her, he didn't quite think Kai was too bad after all. Perhaps he had to start believing Hilary's comments about the duo. After all, Tyson told him everything. Maybe they were closer than initially thought.

As Jin began to walk away, a figure emerged from the shadows. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," The girl said, strutting over to him. "What the hell was that about?" She asked.

"I- uh, Riley," he said swiftly, and obviously with much difficulty.

"Don't screw around with him," She said defensively.

He gawked at her. "Has being away from Japan gone to your head? You just told me to stop messing with Hiwatari!" He paused, searching her crimson eyes with his own chocolate colored ones. "That was practically your passtime!"

Riley was nothing short of sincere. "Just get off his back. He's my business. I'll take care of him, alright?"

"Your business? Amanda busted him! My team wants to know how the reason why you 'bailed him out,' or whatever. How the fuck did he get challenged by Amanda?!"

The girl threw her hair behind her shoulders. "He didn't have a brain then. I had to teach him a few things."

"Have you seen that attack before?" A genuine smile crossed her lips. She shook her head, and he understood clearly. That look in her eyes. "You're proud of him, aren't you?"

She laughed. "Of course I am! Kai's got more potential than I think any of us know. I haven't trained him in like a month, and he's suddenly got the true aura of his bit beast spewing sparks and dying the entire arena. Dude, you have no idea how awesome that is!" Jin glared at her.

"Who's side are you on?" She knew immediately he meant Kai or Tyson. She had made her decision, but Hiro was a blabbermouth, and she didn't need any of that just yet.

She smirked. "I think that's my own private business, don't you, Jin? Let's think about it, though. Tyson's been my friend for how long? Why would you think otherwise?"

"You know that he cares about you, right?"

She laughed. "I knew that a long time ago. Somewhere around the time when he started driving me home. Don't worry, Hiro, I'm a tough-ass beyblader. I'm sure I can handle whatever Hiwatari's got in store for me." She slung an arm around him. "It's cute that you both wanna protect me. I appreciate it."

"Yeah, well I don't appreciate his attitude."

"He'll mellow out eventually, Hiro. You know how badly he wants Ty's title. You've gotta give him credit for trying."

"Somehow I think you'll be helping him with that." The rest of him started to understand. Riley was not, nor would she ever be on Tyson's side. She was on Kai's. Now he had to figure out just what Kai and Riley were to each other, and what that meant for his brother. If Tyson had been Riley private student, he'd be the best blader in the galaxy. So the question was:

Why Kai?

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**I hope to God I'm not going around in circles. Thanks again to all my reviewers who help me out in multiple ways. Anyway, there's a storm coming, so what better to do than to write?! I'm going to start the next chapter now. I believe I have eight or nine chapters to go, but I keep combining things so it's not ungodly long and horrendous. **

**Thanks again for reading, and review please!**

**Distant Storm - Out!**


	13. Rules Are Optional

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I only own my OCs, and the plot line.

Summary:The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Twelve: Rules are Optional

Distant Storm

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Amanda smirked, running a hand through her spiky hair. Eye-balling the American 'Champions' before her, she snorted, then leaned back against the dug-out styled bench. She was seriously not interested in any of this. If these kids lost to Kai... well, they should have gone home and trained for a few centuries and waited for a series of apocalyptic events, after which they might have been ready.

However, as a yellow beyblade was thrown in and wedged about three inches to the left of her head, she figured that just might not be the case after all.

"Yo, Kimi, watch what the hell you're doin', kay, bitch? I don't appreciate that."

A smirk from the Latina woman at the edge of the dish met Amanda's amused look. "Sorry, 'Manda," She began, leaving the disgruntled looking All-Starz in the dust. "When people suck like that, well,there's nothing I can do."

"Enough."

Amanda stood up, leaving the bench, but remaining on the floor instead of the seats or balcony suite that she once stood upon. "You got a problem Philips?"

"It's Dickenson," She said simply.

"_Phillips_." Amanda pressed.

Riley shrugged and gave her a quick glare, before her bored expression took over. "I'm watching you, so don't think you can get away with _any_ of it."

Amanda proceeded to walk toward the nearest exit. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I won't be battling until later today. I'll make sure we get into a large disagreement. After all, I believe you owe me a rematch."

"Funny," Riley said casually, "I don't think I do, but mark my words: mess with anyone here, and I'll pummel you so fast you won't know what hit you."

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Fifteen minutes earlier, Hiro passed a lingering Kai. Usually the boy stayed when the rest of the team left, to check out the competition. Yet today, he was doing something different. Kai lingered, but only for one battle. Amanda apparently confused him, or else he was planning on doing something catagorized simply as irrational.

Now, needless to say, the boys would never have a bond. Though they both were used by Boris Balkov, both had dealt differently, and Kai was obviously the stronger of the two since then. Kai had somekind of system, he was always able to sift through people's souls to tell if they were good or not. The only barrier in his searches through people was time. If not given enough, his judgement was cloudly.

The ninja remembered something Riley had told him, about Kai not having a brain before. He was obviously trying to understand what Amanda was all about, but the girl was so powerful that it would probably hurt to look her bit beast in the eye.

"Bro, what's going on?"

Tyson came over, watching Kai for a moment before looking up. "He's going to fight her, isn't he?"

Hiro looked down. Tyson was obviously jealous. "I think he wants to," The older brother said simply.

It was times like these when Hiro realized that he had to stick with his little bro, since the upcoming battles would be anything but easy. Not to mention those involving Riley and Kai's emotional relationship. Over the past few days, Hiro had begun to realize that Hilary's intuition was right: Kai and Riley had to have had some type of involvement. The thought scared him, because for all they knew, Kai could be as well-known as a player as Tala was. Yet, seeing as the world had come to know her as a Dickenson, he figured Stanley's overprotective nature would probably do them good.

"Why not me?"

"I was wondering the same thing."

Tyson looked up to his brother, before readjusting his hat. "You know, he sits there and watches all this stuff, but he doesn't say much about what he gets from them."

"He won't steal their moves, and we all know how stoic Kai is."

The younger's brown eyes were rolled, no amusement present. "You know, no matter what, it's always Kai overcoming the brunt of it, or Kai getting hurt horribly. The guy's my friend, but all of a sudden, you know I-"

"You're jealous," Hilary said gently. She stepped into the doorway overlooking both Kai and the stadium where Amanda's team had just finished battling. Kai appeared to be reflecting on what had just happened. "Kai's always just a part of the plan, a sacrifice, but yet he somehow learns and becomes a better person, when you never seem to get anything but the clincher and a tough battle."

"He never learned the lessons we learned though," Hiro said, gazing out at the teen. "Kai never learned right and wrong until you taught him."

Hilary nodded. "C'mon, I say we go practice. He's just another rival, and you're just feeling detached. We'll go and take care of business so you can clean his clock later."

The two left Hiro alone again. Kai had gotten up, passing by the ninja. "Tell him next time, that you get what you give. He's still just a kid. He doesn't know what it's like."

His eyes narrowed upon the Russian, whose attitude seemed uninterested. "And what the hell are you?" His anger spiked. Kai was getting a bit haughty and a little too all-knowing for his liking.

However, when the younger's violet gray eyes met his, they were overly emotional. Kai was such a piece of work. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

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Tyson was still rather distraught. He could sense the talking. People were beginning to think that he was going to lose. That would not, _could_ not happen. He would never lose to Kai, if he could help it. And if it did happen, the world would have to be shaken to the core multiple times before he would roll over and play dead.

He kicked a can in front of him, his anger and frustration used to put multiple dents into the aluminum can. His championship run was actually being jeopardized, for the first time in, well, a long time. Last time he had squared off against Kai in the stadium, the battle had been wicked, but he knew that the phoenix would not win. This time felt different. Like it had been decided for him. Would Kai truly bring so much more to the table this time? Would they even make it that long?

Sure, all of them had been defeated before at the tournament - the can received a swift kick - and the others had pulled the fallen one through his defeat and clinched the right number of points.

"Hey."

Tyson stopped walking, and turned around, only to see the person Kai had been examining standing there. He had been warned that she was dangerous, but still... it couldn't hurt to see what she wanted.

"What's up?"

"You wanna trash Hiwatari, don't you?"

Tyson kicked the can behind him with his heel. "Yeah, so?"

"I can help you," Amanda said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I can tell you want it."

The champion scoffed. "That's great, but I don't want to break any rules to win." After all, he had learned that being a complete let down on victories was much better than cheating to win.

"Alright, so you wanna be a goodie-goodie." She never backed away, and that surprised Tyson a bit. Why would she help? "Kimi!"

A Latin American woman stepped out from the shadows of a nearby building. "Yeah, 'Manda?"

"We're gonna show Tyson here how to win without breakin' any of those rules. Mkay?"

"Yeah, yeah." The girl snapped her gum and the two came up to Tyson, one on either side of him. "Why are we helping out the enemy?" She asked innocently, as if she were about to turn the tides on Tyson and make him into a victim.

Amanda smirked. "Well simple, Kimi."

"Okay, what is so simple about it?" Tyson said, realizing that he could be lead to his doom here. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to a training physillity. Maybe there's Infinite material in you yet."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can do that?"

"Let me explain this to you, Granger." Amanda recalled her beyblade. "This is not some stupid tournament like the ones you're usually involved with. This is a battle of _infinites_. We are not your everyday beybladers, so as long as we aren't stealing Bit Beasts, we're fine. And of course, the whole beyblade size and weight rules apply."

The champion nodded, extending his launcher outward. He launched it in the manor Amanda and Kimi had shown him, while wearing the braces their team mate Rousseau gave him. They held him back, but yet he launched with more speed and precision than before.

"Okay," Kimi said, launching a miscellaneous beyblade: diamondback in making of course, into the dish for him to mess with.

Amanda scrutinized every ounce of his movements. At no point in time was he to call for Dragoon, and at every point in time he was supposed to be analyzing his opponent. "It's not illegal if you're so strong you destroy their beyblade," Amanda said pointedly. "Rules are optional, and you of all people have seen that rule time and time again. So use it!"

"Are- are you serious?"

"You're in the big leagues, Champ," Kimi said severely. "Now start acting like it!"

At this point, Tyson wasn't sure if being a champion was a blessing or a curse.

xxxxxxxxxx

Rain poured down from the sky. Riley looked over at Mr. Dickenson. He looked very frightened.

"Are you sure?"

"She knows I chose Kai. I never knew she would do something like this."

The color seemed to drain further from his face. "You're sure you saw him do it? He went with them?"

"Amanda and Kimi." Riley sighed. "I don't like it any more than you do, but I couldn't get much closer, and he still has yet to leave. He's been with them for at least three hours."

"They wouldn't take Dragoon, would they?"

She shook her head. "Why would they? They don't value championship beybladers. I know she's training him. I just don't think he truly understands what they've done. This is not some regular competition. I'm afraid some of it may be my fault, for focusing so much on Kai..."

"You can't blame yourself. You and Tyson have been friends for a long time-"

"I've trained with Kai twice as much as the rest of them, if not more than that."

Mr. Dickenson looked at her. "That's why you believe so much in him. You tutored him!" He seemed to give her an accusing glance she was sure she deserved. "You have to believe me though, Dad, I did not think it would make Tyson trust Amanda, of all people."

He sighed, nodding. "There's no difference. Someone would have gone to Amanda, though I'm sure she found him. Why would you train Kai so much more?"

"He has that- that exponential potential. He will break the chains that separate bladers like me from the rest of the world." She paused. "I just hope that Tyson knows. Amanda will twist his mind. There are barely any rules as it is, but she will teach him what I have been taught."

Her father stared at her. It was not common for her to mention what she had been taught during her phase with Infinity. "Riley, what will he be taught?"

"He will be taught how to slaughter without knowing it. He will become strong, there is no doubt. So strong, I don't know who will be able to stand a chance. Even Kai may not stand a chance if Amanda truly gets a hold of him."

"Even Kai? Have you seen what he can-"

"I know he is stronger than most," Riley said sincerely. "That is how I trained him to be."

"So you don't think that you're over reacting, even just a little?" The man's gaze was set intently upon her. That was just like him. To freak out in the beginning, but then settle down after mildly losing his mind for a few moments. She admired this quality, but she did know Tyson, after living in a house with him for nearly nine months.

She shook her head. "I don't believe I am. Tyson is... well, he wants to win too, and if Kai is going to pose a threat, then Tyson will train just as much as Kai does to be the best. I know Tyson, and he's got pure motives. Amanda doesn't and that's why I'm afraid. Tyson has never been able to go all-out, because of the rules. I just hope he doesn't lose control of himself."

A knock on the door shook them both from their reverie. "Come in," Mr. Dickenson beckoned, to be faced with none other than Amanda.

"Alright."

Riley looked at the girl, whose gaze was not set on her father. So, Amanda came here to talk with her, did she? "Yeah, Amanda?"

"You saw me take Tyson back to the training physility, that's why you and your daddy are all freaking out."

Riley nodded. "He's a good kid, better than the likes of you deserves."

"Oh, well I would have offered Kai, but he seemed to me like he could've beaten Tyson if he was in a coma."

"You're not good news, Amanda, and I know your intentions are anything but pure." Riley watched as Amanda circled her, and her father shrunk back into his chair, waiting quietly to step in if needed.

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm just telling you, Riley, that someone had to give him a few pointers, or else he'd be eaten alive. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And since both of our teams will be in the finals, I figure a good friendship with the kid would be right up my alley."

"You? Friendship? What are you getting out of it?"

"The satisfaction of watching you squirm, because your boyfriend might not beat Tyson afterall. And you know what that means."

Amanda laughed viciously and walked from the room, her spiked hair not even moving in the air conditioner's breeze.

"What does that mean, if Tyson wins?"

Riley turned to her father, to see him peering intently into her eyes. Crimson met gray. She said nothing.

"Riley, what does that mean?"

He seemed awefully confused, and she supposed it was her own fault for not telling him. "You know how I said that we needed a change of pace for me to enter one of these tournaments?"

He nodded, placidly waiting for her to continue.

"I made a bet."

"What sort of bet?"

"I bet that Kai would defeat Tyson."

"And if he doesn't?"

She smiled through frustration. "Well, you see, he can't, and he knows it. I bet my public beyblading career on it."

Mr. Dickenson stared at her, as if she had mutated before his eyes. "You _what_?!"

She smiled softly. "I have faith in Kai, but Amanda knows how to train beybladers. I just hope Kai's up to the challenge." She paused. "And if he wins, she cannot even dream about stealing or killing another bit beast. It's all for the greater good, really."

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**Alrighty. Well, that was not what I initially expected to write, but I think it was alright. Once I started on the Tyson part, it just seemed to flow from my mind... anyway, more action should be coming up, since the beybladers will be heading to Seattle soon.**

**Hope you liked, and please review!**

**Love ya! Distant Storm**


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